The Trouble in Being Zuko or Sokka
by plude
Summary: Series of stories that happen throughout the cannon 'Avatar' timeline about Zuko and Sokka. The main pairings will mostly be slash/yaoi, but the story also contains Katang and other cannon pairings. Each chapter will have its own unique flavor but tie in.
1. Chapter 1 Froggie

Hey, I haven't written anything in a few years now, but I try very hard to keep the characters as true to themselves as I can while adding my little yaoi/slash spin on things.

This chapter suggests what could have happened when Zuko left to join Team Avatar. The main pairing is Zuko and Sokka in no particular order. Future chapters will also be aimed at a Zuko and Sokka pairing ultimately but may include other suggested or temporary pairings that should relate to the fic's ultimate plot as a whole. Each chapter will take place in a different time period on the greater timeline of the series, but not necessarily in any particular order, meaning this chapter happens in season 3, but the next chapter is told during season 1. The idea is to tell a whole story like pieces of a puzzle that come together when all of the chapters are complete.

This is a **yaoi/slash** fic. If you don't like that please don't read it.

Betaed by the lovely Ritsu-chan.

I hope you enjoy my story. I am open to any questions, comments, or well thought out criticisms.

I do not own _Avatar the Last Airbender_, Nickelodeon studios does. If I owned it we wouldn't have had to wait months/years between new episodes. Please don't sue me.

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_The Troubles In Being Zuko or Sokka_

Chapter 1 (Season3) Location: Airbending Temple

Sokka stalked his prey slowly, waiting for the perfect moment to make a move and pounce. Oh yes, there would be no more plain rice with tofu-sprouts for him tonight. His mouth watered as he crawled after the cute badger-frog. Unfortunately for Sokka this would not be his day for trying new meat based cuisine. . .

Zuko paced back and forth deep in frustrated thought; each idea for begging to join Team Avatar sounding worse than the first. . .

"I uh… I'm not so good at cooking and… er… hanging out, but I c-can make fire and erm… f-fight good… and y-you should let me join your team cause… I'm sort of useful and eh… I'm good now… I mean… I want to h-help… AH! This is never going to work! That sounds terrible! What do you think I should say, Froggie? …Froggie?!"

Zuko's head turned quickly to the left and right, but there was no sign of his only friend. A large frown formed as he realized how important to his sanity the badger-frog had become. A certain franticness set in as Zuko's heart began to race and a bit of panic set in. This was a man who had carried an unconscious child Avatar miles through frozen tundra but was terrified at the thought of loosing a simple badger-frog.

Excitement flowed through the Water-Tribesman's body. Oh, this was going to be the best meal he'd had since they'd arrived at this desolate little piece of Airbender history they were hiding at. As visions of frog leg delicacies with badger-frog jerky danced through Sokka's head he lost focus on all else around aside from his prey. Drool started to drip from his mouth as he readied for the pounce.

Zuko saw him, Froggie, Zuko's only companion on this insane quest of his to somehow convince the Avatar he was worth having as a teammate. In Zuko's mind stars and sparkles lit around Froggie as the young fire bender was so relieved and happy to see him, as if he couldn't do any of this on his own. In reality, the badger-frog was sitting on a rock by the lake eating flies off of some sort of scat, but Zuko didn't really notice that. Zuko was so distracted he didn't even notice the teenaged Water-Tribe warrior closing in on dinner. Zuko prepared to jump, hoping to grab Froggy before he disappeared into the lake and this chase and rescue became a whole lot messier.

Timing and luck had never been Sokka's strong suit. He'd recently learned not to talk to his prey so much while closing in, but to just pounce which was exactly what he did, just as Froggie jumped into the lake and Zuko lunged to grab Froggie which unfortunately resulted in a Zuko, Sokka, and scat sandwich, with poor Sokka in the middle on his stomach.

Sokka's eyes widened as the air was knocked out of him by what felt like another _person?_ on top of him. He squirmed and squeaked, struggling to figure out exactly what had happened as his eyes caught the sight of his food prey hopping calmly out of the water to land just out of his reach. That's also when he caught sight of red fabric hanging from the body atop him. The young warrior gasped. He had to be pinned by someone from the Fire Nation!

Zuko was quite confused. He caught sight of Froggie hopping out of the water and realized he was lying atop something or someone much larger than a badger-frog. As the figure began to squirm and squeak Zuko's eyes focused in horror on blue fabric. The Water-Tribe boy! He had just tackled the Water-Tribe boy! He knew this couldn't bode well at all for trying to show the Avatar he was harmless and trying to get in the group's good graces. At this realization Zuko quickly jumped off of Sokka as if he'd been burned and reached out to help the other teen boy up off the rock/ground.

Sokka felt slight relief as the weight from the figure above him dissipated, but began to panic as a strong warm hand wrapped itself around his arm. Eager not to get captured Sokka shoved himself away, hard, freeing himself of the captive hand, only to awkwardly fall face first into the lake.

Zuko smacked himself on the forehead. If he wasn't tackling the Water-Tribe boy he was dropping him in the lake! He felt like he just couldn't win today as he continued to panic, irrationally jumping into the waist deep water to 'save' the other teen.

Sokka was struggling to swim/get away as the red clad figure grabbed him tight and began to swim him towards the shore rather forcefully.

Froggie just sat and watched as the two strange non-bug/non-badger-frog life forms fought and wrestled in the water. Froggie's head tilted towards the side. He didn't see any food near by. What could the two of them be fighting over?

Zuko struggled with Sokka, still trying to 'help' him out of the water, but all he seemed to be getting were punches jabs and struggling.

"S-stop! I-I didn't mean to… are you ok?! …Uh… Water-Tribe b…" Zuko cut off as an elbow connected with his jaw and knocked him back slightly. He hadn't been trying to fight so much as help, but this had just turned into a total disaster. As it was he had to grab the other boy's hand midair to keep from being beamed in the head with a boomerang.

Sokka recognized Zuko's oddly lisped voice immediately. Not again, oh not again! Sokka was far more than sick of being chased to all corners of the world by the fire nation prince, and his breath caught as he came to the realization of just how much more dangerous this was than an encounter with a regular fire nation soldier. Zuko was actually smart and very good with battle tactics not to mention fighting which made Sokka wonder why exactly the battle thus far had been so awkward and slow on Zuko's part. Maybe being in the water weakened Zuko… No, that didn't make any sense as the snow hadn't even weakened him this much. Sokka struggled harder as Zuko caught his boomerang wielding arm and forced it to stop mid-motion. Before he could struggle too much more he found both of his wrists held tight by Zuko.

Zuko was hard pressed to determine just how temporarily holding the Water-Tribe boy captive was going to help his case any when later pleading to join the Avatar, but he certainly didn't want the teen to hit him in the head with that boomerang again. He still had a little scar from the last time and he had been wearing a helmet then. The teen struggled in his grasp and even tried to kick and head butt him as he attempted to calm the boy down.

"Ah… H-hey... Stop! I'm-I'm not going to hurt you, er…"

Sokka struggled hard, kicking and twisting, determined not to let himself become captured by Zuko. Zuko's grip seemed to tighten the more he struggled.

"Yeah, sure you won't! You'll just capture me and Aang and take us as war prisoners. Well, I've got news for you, creepy stalker guy…"

"Hey! Calm down! I-I'm not stalking you anymo… well, maybe just a little… err… I'm no longer trying to capture the Ava…err… Aang?...err…" Zuko stammered, trying hard to communicate as best he could.

Sokka's struggles slowed for a second as he wondered what sort of plan THIS was. Large confused blue eyes looked towards Zuko to meet up with oddly sincere looking golden ones. Sokka blinked a few times wondering where all the anger and malice had gone in Zuko's gaze. This was a trick. This had to be a trick. If Zuko meant him no harm then why was he holding onto him tight enough to bruise, and why had he pounced on him earlier?

"Yeah… Whatever you say, Stalker! Just because you have a cute new haircut going on there doesn't mean you've changed one bit! What next, are the royal guards going to give you highlights?!" Sokka chided, sticking out his tongue as if he thought he was being so funny.

"H-Hey… that's not… err…"

A deep blush crept over Zuko's face. He had never been very good at this sort of thing, talking to others his own age and whatnot, especially when the others didn't particularly like him. His mouth dropped open with sort of a confused look as he struggled for just the right thing to say. It never dawned on him just how tight his grip had gotten.

Sokka peered back at Zuko in complete confusion now. Was the other boy blushing? What the hell?! Was this all part of his act? What was he trying to accomplish? Sokka began to struggle once again, his wrists really starting to hurt now from the other teen's tight warm grip.

"Let me go! I thought you were busy stalking Aang! Shouldn't you be back in your own nation getting your hair restyled again or something?!"

Zuko gasped as he realized he was still holding on and rather tight. His grip began to loosen, but the boy in his grasp began to struggle more, once again trying to club him in the head with the boomerang forcing him to tighten his grip once again.

"S-Stop!"

"Oh you'd like that wouldn't you?!"

"N-No… I mean yes… err… I mean… I can't let go if you keep trying to hit me in the head."

Both men's gazes were drawn from one another rather suddenly as Froggie made a large "croak!" and bounded onto Zuko's head from his place on the shore.

Sokka's brows lowered and mouth dropped open for a moment in complete perplexity before he suddenly bit his bottom lip trying hard not to laugh despite the recent situation's lack of jubilation. Zuko just looked too hilarious with a huge badger-frog on his head.

Zuko's eyes widened and his face turned three shades of tomato. Was the other boy actually laughing at him? His eyes looked up to try and pinpoint the badger-frog now positioned on his head and the Water-Tribe boy just lost it, laughing out loud. Zuko quickly let go of the teen and reached up to grab his beloved friend, bringing him down from his head to clutch him at his chest as he ducked to dodge Sokka's boomerang. Unfortunately for Zuko, Sokka's boomerang always came back…

Zuko was knocked forward pretty hard as the force knocked Froggie out of Zuko's arms and onto Sokka's face. The fire warrior shook his head a few times, trying hard to remain conscious as white stars crackled before his eyes. It wasn't at all like Zuko to be so careless, but he had been too busy trying not to fight while protecting his badger-frog friend. A little trickle of blood dripped down Zuko's neck from the back of his head and he spat out a little blood as he grabbed blindly for the other boy, catching his tunic.

Sokka squeaked as Zuko's hand caught the cloth on the front of his tunic and held tight just as Sokka had finally managed to pry what he'd intended to be his food for the day from his face. The badger-frog took advantage of Sokka's shock and wiggled its slick way out of his damp arms, jumping back into the water only to swim back to shore and hop back onto the initial rock it had been sitting on. Sokka just yelped and grabbed Zuko's wrist, trying to pry his tunic free of Zuko's hand.

Zuko reached out with his other hand, desperately trying to brace himself as his vision began to double. Misfortune smiled upon the injured warrior once again as he reached for the wrong Sokka (out of the two he saw) and completely shifted his weight to the arm, grabbing at air and falling forward onto Sokka in what resembled a hugging position.

Sokka squeaked loud and flailed a bit as all of Zuko's weight was suddenly on him in a rather awkward looking position for someone he was supposed to be battling. Sokka's flailing slowed as he struggled to hold the two of them in a still standing position above water.

Zuko came slightly more to his senses and struggled to regain his footing, as he brought his arms up to squeeze the other teen in attempt to gain something to support himself on. The thought never graced Zuko's throbbing brain that this would seem like a large tight hug to the other boy.

Sokka gasped and struggled for a good sarcastic quip to force out. All he really managed was a high pitched "Ha! Ha! Boomerang always comes back! Ha!"

His eyes seemed to pop out of his head as the other man's answer was bringing his arms up around Sokka in a tight hug. What the hell was he doing?!

More of Sokka's flailing ensued due to the social discomfort of the situation which only forced Zuko to squeeze tighter as he struggled for balance.

Zuko forced whispered words from his mouth as a little blood dripped from the corner.

"W-Water-Tribe boy… d-don't"

Sokka's whole body shivered as Zuko's hot breath caressed his ear.

"Sokka! My name is Sokka," he managed to squeak out.

Zuko's grip tightened a minute as the warrior began to shake a little, still feeling dizzy, but he soon forced himself to his own feet, letting go of Sokka, but rocking a bit in the water. He wiped at his mouth and tried to speak again, as Sokka used this opportunity to quickly go for his boomerang which had bounced off of Zuko's head into the water. Zuko grabbed Sokka around the waist with one arm in attempt to stop him.

"S-Sokka… please… stop. I don't want to hurt you."

"Is that so?! Then, what are you doing here, baking cookies?!"

Sokka squirmed and struggled hard which prompted Zuko to try and get him away from the boomerang before he got free. Sokka struggled even more as Zuko drug him towards the shore, and Zuko began to wonder if he would ever get his point through to the crazed warrior.

As Zuko reached the shore he shoved Sokka onto the dry land and lunged to grab him before he ran away. This led to more awkwardness as Zuko landed on Sokka in a straddling position, pinning his hands to the ground.

Sokka did not respond well. He almost looked panicked for a moment, his eyes wide as if Zuko were really hurting him. His jaw clamped shut and he grit his teeth, his large blue eyes met Zuko's once again and the younger boy almost looked terrified. Sokka shook his head hard and squeezed his eyes shut tight but was brought out of his panicked state by Zuko's soft words.

"P-please stop attacking me. I didn't mean to land on you. I… err… I was trying to catch Froggie."

Zuko bit at his lip as a blush once again crept across his cheeks and his eyes moved to his rock-sitting friend.

Sokka's gaze followed Zuko's and his eyebrows rose in complete bewilderment. Was Zuko actually referring to the badger-frog?

"What are you TALKING about? What ARE you doing here if not to capture Aang?"

Zuko took a deep breath. This was his chance.

"I came to join the Avatar and help him to defeat the fire nation."

With each moment of this insane encounter Sokka thought that he couldn't become any more shocked and surprised. He was proven wrong.

"W-What?! Why?"

*sigh* "Because it's the right thing to do."

"That never stopped you before."

*sigh* "Well… I've changed now… I… I want to do the right thing. I mean, I thought I was doing the right thing before, but now I know I really wasn't. I now know my destiny is to help the Avat… is to help Aang."

Sokka wasn't sure what to say to that. What could he say? He had no idea if Zuko's words were true or if this was another plot to kidnap Aang. Then, it dawned on Sokka that he was still being pinned, the weight of the other man straddling him sank deep into his stomach and made his whole body tremble slightly.

"Uh… If you're such a great guy now, get off of me!"

Zuko quickly scrambled to comply and held up his hands once he was on his feet again.

"P-please don't attack me again."

Sokka's eyebrows raised and as Zuko offered him a hand to get up he sort of ignored it, pushing himself up off of the ground. Zuko frowned.

"I guess you still really don't trust me… not that you'd really have any reason to… About before, I'm really sorry… especially that time I paralyzed you and your sister and carried you on that giant rodent and well… that time in Ba Sing S…"

It was Sokka's turn to wave his arms in the air.

"Woah Woah Woah! I… You should really be telling this stuff to Aang… well, except that thing about Katara. If you ever hurt my sister again I'll come after you."

Sokka tried to look menacing with that last part, but he realized it was Zuko he was talking to after all so he was pretty sure he just looked silly.

Zuko frowned, looked down at the ground in shame, and gave a soft nod.

"I was preparing to apologize to the A… to Aang when all of this happened… I mean, when I went looking for Froggie… He's a really good listen… You… You must think I'm insane." *sigh*

"…Yeah… a little bit." *sweatdrop*

Sokka couldn't deny the weirdness that Zuko had demonstrated.

"Well, I guess, you have your frog and I can grab Boomerang out of the lake… Sooooo… As long as you come work things out with Aang soon and don't attack anyone I guess we could… forget this whole thing happened?"

Sokka was praying for a "yes" as this whole thing was rather embarrassing and a small part of him wondered if Zuko held a grudge over the boomerang to the head Sokka had delivered.

Zuko smiled, which was more than weird for Sokka.

"I-I'd like that… I mean, I don't want to start things off on the wrong foot."

"RRRRright… um… maybe I should apply a little first aid to your head first."

Zuko didn't know what to say. He hadn't imagined any form of offered help. He wanted to ask Sokka for help with what to say to Aang and the others, but he was way too embarrassed. He just stayed silent as Sokka quickly pulled out a small first aid pouch and used it to quickly clean and dress his wound. When Sokka was all finished Zuko offered a soft "Thanks."

Sokka felt a small pang of worry. If Zuko really was on their side he'd just injured him pretty badly. So, he went in the lake to fish out his boomerang and picked up Zuko's little pet on his way out.

Zuko looked a little worried when Sokka picked up Froggie, but Sokka calmed him by handing Froggie to Zuko and helping the young injured warrior to his feet. That's when it occurred to Zuko that he had also been quite rough in their earlier scuffle.

"A-are your wrists ok?"

Sokka appeared to shake/write off any pain.

"Feh… I'm fine. My arm bandages will cover any residual bruises or anything… I guess it was sort of my own fault." *sweatdrop* "Just don't do it again or I'll have to boomerang your head again."

Zuko shook his head a little.

"D-Don't do THAT… I just got you to stop."

Sokka smirked and told Zuko to go get some rest since he was expected to come see Aang by the end of the next day or Sokka was going to tell everyone he'd seen him.

Zuko nodded a few times and headed off into the woods with a wave, another soft smile, and another "Thanks Sokka."

As soon as Zuko was entirely out of sight Sokka let out a huge gasp of air relieved he'd made it out of this mess somehow. For a while he was almost sure he'd be captured or worse so this was all a huge relief. Then, he frowned, realizing he'd have to eat rice and tofu-sprouts for dinner once again.

~~~Back at the Airbending Temple~~~

Katara's nose twitched in the air and she slowly followed the scent to her brother.

"Sokka, do you smell like poo?! Did you fall in poo again?! Sokka who do you think has to do your laundry?!"

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TBC…

plude


	2. Chapter 2 Instincts

This fic is set at the end of the day they met Jet, just after the celebration when he tells Sokka they could use his help the next day. Sorry, Zuko isn't even in this chapter really, but just remember we managed to make it through entire episodes of the real series without seeing Zuko, as hard as it was.

The main pairing for this chapter is Jet and Sokka… sorry. *sweatdrop* I promise it will lead to future Sokka and Zuko ness.

Warnings: Yaoi Lemon, semi-non-con o.O' hand job (for this chapter only)

This fic is betaed by and dedicated to my lovely girlfriend Ritsu-chan.

A little of the "Jet" episode is summarized via Sokka's thoughts in this fic in order to try and maintain the flow of the fic. Everyone please go watch the episode if you can. ^_^ I claim no rights to _Avatar the Last Airbender_. It is a property of Nickelodeon Studios. Everyone go watch it and drool at its awesomeness!!!

The Trouble In Being Zuko or Sokka

Chapter 2 "Sokka's Instincts"

(Season 1) Location: Jet's Forest Compound

Sokka strutted alongside Jet, feeling oddly happy after his recent feelings of annoyance earlier in the day. Maybe this Jet guy was cooler than he thought. The guy was definitely acknowledging what a strong warrior the Water Tribe boy was. The forest dwelling teen began to explain to him about their group's intended mission the next day to watch for more incoming Fire Nation Soldiers and how they could really use the help if Sokka was up for it. Sokka grinned, beginning to feel far less jealous and far more admiring of Jet, and by the end of their walk, Sokka and Jet were using secret hand shakes and bumping fists.

As they reached their destination Sokka looked up and around. They had just made their way to a different section of the tree-house compound, but before Sokka could say anything to question where they were Jet lifted the skin covering the door and motioned Sokka inside.

"I thought you might stay at my place tonight so the Avatar and your sister can sleep in a bit more. I'm sure they could use the rest." *wink*

Sokka shrugged, figuring it probably was a good idea not to wake them too early given the walk today that his 'instincts' had put them all on. A small drop of sweat trickled down Sokka's head at that thought, and he was rather grateful when Jet offered him a drink from a skin on his belt.

The liquid in Jet's water skin tasted odd. It was very strong, thick, bitter, and gave Sokka a strange warm feeling after drinking some of it, but Sokka wasn't used to turning down any offering of food or food-like things so he took a few gulps gratefully before handing the skin back to Jet who just grinned ear to ear and gave Sokka another odd wink.

"So, Sokka, do have a lot of girlfriends back in the Water Tribe?" Jet questioned as he motioned for Sokka to have a seat on the big futon-like furniture piece in the hut. This and a couple of barrels that seemed to be used as tables were the only furniture pieces in Jet's hut. Sokka thought nothing of it being this place was still far less humble than his igloo back home that he shared with Katara and Gran-Gran. He instead focused on what he could say to Jet to make himself seem cooler.

"W-Well… there aren't really any girls left back home thanks to the Fire Nation… b-but you can be sure I've gotten real close to some pretty girls on the trip, Sokka declared with a wink, as he silently prayed the gesture would make him look more rugged and experienced.

In truth, Sokka had no real idea what he was talking about, but it sounded cool. Besides, he couldn't just let this one go after Katara's earlier chides which involved his lack of experience in the girl kissing department. It was bad enough being made fun of by his own sister, but he wasn't sure if he could take being made fun of by Jet.

Jet gave a small frown and sat next to Sokka, looking into his eyes.

"Not me, man… Thanks to the fucking Fire Nation there are no teenaged girls left in this area… I guess you've totally got me beat on experience, huh?"

Sokka's mouth gaped; he had no idea what to say. He suddenly felt terrible for what had seemed like such a little lie a few short moments before.

"W-Well, I guess I don't have that much experience with girls… I mean… We haven't traveling all that long, and eh, not too many girls want to get all that close to a guy who is going to have to leave at any moment… err…"

Jet smiled knowingly and leaned himself on an arm against the back of his make-shift futon, still looking deep into Sokka's now remorseful big blue eyes.

"Don't sweat it Sokka… everyone else here thinks I'm totally the ladies man too. A guy's gotta' keep up his rep right?"

Sokka sighed, looking down at his hands bashfully.

"S-Sorry…I err…"

Jet suddenly took both of Sokka's hands into his own, drawing Sokka's eyes to look into his own mysterious darkened eyes once again.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Sokka. The Fire Nation is the ones who should be apologizing… those bastards! If it wasn't for them I'm sure we would both have adorable girlfriends."

Sokka nodded slightly, feeling a bit speechless for once in his life. He could hardly make any sort of sarcastic joke about something as serious as this.

Jet let a soft sigh cross his lips and moved closer, still holding Sokka's hands gently between his own. Sokka felt odd and warm, not only from his unusual drink earlier but also from the warm hands clutching his own. He felt as if Jet truly was lonely and hurt by all of the bad things that had happened to him. He would have reached out and hugged the guy, but he was worried that would seem a bit strange coming from another guy at their age. So, Sokka just bit his lip a little and raised his eyebrows in worry, trying to think of something funny to say to lift the mood. Just as Sokka was about to tell his joke about the two otter-moose, Jet broke in with a rather poignant question for a hormonal teenage boy,

"S-Sokka, have you ever wondered what it would be like to kiss a girl?"

Sokka blushed deep. Jet definitely had figured out that he had been exaggerating. Sure, he'd kissed Suki, but it was a mere quick peck, and truth be told, Suki had been the one to kiss him. He decided to just pretend like this wasn't absolutely humiliating and just answer the question.

"Heh... What guy hasn't? Am I right?"

Jet declared as he smirked and quirked an eyebrow at Sokka to help punctuate his point.

"Ever thought about tryin' it out so when you finally do find a girl she won't think you're terrible at it?"

Sokka didn't want to say anything about his practice sessions with pieces of fruit when his sister and Aang weren't around so he managed to squeek out, "H-How…er… you mean with your hand or something… err… I mean…" *blush*

Jet's smirk grew. The inexperienced, not to mention adorable, Water Tribe boy was playing right into his hands. This was almost too easy, and tomorrow he would have the boy's sister and the Avatar help with his plans to flood out the fire nation, but NOW was time for fun.

"W-Well I thought every guy had tried it with his hand… and fruit…"

Sokka face-faultered a little.

"I was thinking we might have a hand up on every other guy if we… well… maybe it's a stupid idea…"

Jet slipped his hands off of Sokka's slowly to give him a little space for this next bit and looked down at his own lap now, looking up only with his eyes and a soft puppy look.

"W-What's a stupid idea? I mean… Aang told me some old Monk guy told him 'there are no stupid ideas just foolish people with closed minds', if that makes sense…"

"Yeah Sokka, I guess it's pretty wise, actually. You're a pretty smart guy."

Sokka smiled and squared his shoulders, sticking out his chest with pride.

"Yep. Yep. So, what is this idea of yours?"

Jet looked down at his lap again, being careful to time this just right while trying hard to seem as bashful and inexperienced as possible.

"W-Well, I was just thinking that since neither of us had much experience that we could well… practice together and give each other tips."

"Y-You mean with fruit?"

"Well, actually I was thinking we'd look pretty dumb kissing fruit and I don't really know how seeing how each other looks while kissing will help all that much so…"

Jet let a silence fall, waiting to see if Sokka would draw his own conclusions, which he did, much to Jet's chagrin.

Sokka blinked a few times, feeling really embarrassed, but oddly curious too, his teenaged boy hormones getting a bit of the better of him.

"Soooo… you think we should… try kissing each other?"

Jet had to bite the inside of his mouth a bit to keep from smiling too much.

"Well, I was going to suggest we practiced on each other's hands, but your idea sounds ok too. I mean, that probably is the best way to assure we'll become great kissers… although it IS sort of embarrassing… but we wouldn't have to TELL anyone…"

Jet glanced up at Sokka's eyes again, somewhat hopefully, still playing bashful.

Sokka turned a deep shade of crimson, wondering why he had suggested such a thing when Jet's idea had been so much less humiliating in comparison, but the idea was sort of tempting. He HAD spent quite a lot of time lately thinking about what kissing would be like. Maybe this was what teen guys did when they were palling around; practice kissing, talk about hot girls, exchange battle strategies… Sokka wasn't really sure, but the kissing idea was becoming more tempting each time he thought about it, and he knew he couldn't just let the awkward silence stretch on much further.

"I… er… I guess… it's like fighting… I mean… the best way to get better IS to practice…" Sokka wiped a bit of nervous sweat from his brow as he willed himself to stay cool.

"As usual, you are SO right, Sokka… but… are you sure you want to… I mean… I don't see how it could HURT anything…"

Sokka shrugged. He guessed Jet was right. Practicing kissing couldn't HURT anything and if anything, it would make him a better kisser for future girlfriends so he wouldn't have to worry whether he was doing it right or not.

"Uh… how should we…"

Jet let a small smile show.

"Maybe we could start with where to put our hands. I mean, I always wonder what I should do with my hands."

This thought relaxed Sokka a little. They didn't have to jump right in to kissing. There were all sorts of positioning details that needed to be worked out.

"That's a good point… Where do YOU think is a good place?"

Jet took a drink from his skin and offered a drink to Sokka who gladly accepted, his mouth feeling parched from all of the recent embarrassing talk, although he supposed it had been just as embarrassing for Jet.

"Maybe we should start with hugging then. I mean, that might be a good way to figure out ideal hand placements."

Sokka burped a little and handed the skin back to Jet feeling a bit cozy and warm. He figured he was probably just a little fuzzy from all of the day's activities. Sokka took a deep breath and held out his arms with an awkward smile, praying this wasn't some sort of secret humiliating joke Jet was playing on him. The Water-Tribe teen was quite surprised when Jet answered silently by gently pulling Sokka onto his lap a little as his arms wrapped around the younger teen. Sokka felt pleasantly surprised as the awkwardness began to melt away a little and he found his fingers moving up Jet's back slowly to land in his hair as he inhaled Jet's scent. The other boy smelled of green tree sap, a very curious scent to the arctic-raised boy.

Jet smiled greedily over Sokka's shoulder.

"This isn't too bad. Does it feel ok to you, Sokka?"

Sokka wanted to answer out loud, but he feared his voice might crack a bit more than usual so he nodded and squeezed Jet a bit tighter, gasping a little as their chests touched. He finally managed to whisper, "A-Are my hands in the right places?"

Jet nodded softly and reached a hand up to gently tug at Sokka's hair tie, which he pulled from Sokka's hair and tied around his own wrist.

Sokka was surprised but didn't get a chance to protest as Jet made his intentions clear, using his fingers to massage Sokka's scalp which just felt really relaxing and caused the younger teen to make a soft "mm…" to which he quickly covered with "ah… That… You… You're pretty good at this… err…"

Jet knew he had Sokka just where he wanted him so he leaned even closer to Sokka and whispered into his ear with hot breath.

"You too, Sokka. Maybe we should move on to the next part."

Before Sokka could answer Jet's mouth closed around the top of his ear and softly began to lick. Sokka made a soft squeek and his eyes widened as the sensation went straight toward a certain spot in his pants. He sharply inhaled in attempt to calm himself but didn't make it very far on the calming front before Jet's lips suddenly met his own, and Jet's warm tongue probed into his mouth without warning. Sokka felt somewhat pleasantly surprised as the other boy's tongue caressed his own and he slowly adjusted himself to returning the motion. He felt the only unfortunate thing was the rather mortifying tightening in his own pants. When Jet finally pulled away both boys were left panting.

"That's pretty good, Sokka, I think we're getting the hang of this."

Sokka nodded and was astounded to find himself eagerly leaning in as Jet leaned in for another kiss. This kiss was much faster and rougher, but it felt amazing, and Sokka was taken aback by the new sensations as he felt one of Jet's hands slide down his back to cup at his butt. Sokka wasn't sure if a girl would like this or not, but he certainly found himself hard pressed to stop the kiss and mention it. Instead he squeezed harder on Jet's back, pulling himself even more into the other boys lap, which was becoming rather awkward with their leg positions sticking off the futon.

Before Sokka could struggle for a better position Jet was laying back on the futon and positioning Sokka to lie atop him, straddling the forest dweller. Sokka thought nothing of it finding this position to be much more comfortable and much easier to kiss Jet. Before long, the two boys were forced to part for air once again and Sokka let his head rest over Jet's shoulder as he panted and gave a little kiss to Jet's ear. Both of Jet's hands were now on Sokka's bottom, squeezing just a little. Sokka's teeth suddenly clenched as he realized his rock hard boner was pushed up against Jet, but then he sighed a bit of relief as he realized the other boy was still wearing his armor which was poking Sokka rather uncomfortably in various places.

Jet brought a hand up to stroke at Sokka's back and continued to squeeze at Sokka's bottom with the other hand. Before Sokka realized what was happening he could feel the collar of his shirt was falling loosely off his shoulder. He reached to adjust his collar from Jet's chest where one of his own arms had been resting. The other hand was still in Jet's hair. Sokka was beginning to feel a bit awkward now as he wondered if they would stop or talk about how the kissing was or what, but his thoughts were interrupted again as Jet spoke up.

"Wow Sokka… You really are good at this."

Sokka leaned up and smiled bright at Jet, feeling a bit relieved for some reason.

"You're pretty good yourself. I don't think you even need the practice. If I…"

Sokka didn't get to finish as Jet cut him off with a quick little kiss. Sokka giggled a little, feeling warm and stunningly comfy as he tagged the boy right back with a quick kiss before feeling Jet's hand slip into the back of his collar and run down his bare back, causing Sokka's collar to slip right back off his shoulder once again. The calluses on Jet's hands felt surprisingly erotic to Sokka. They were the mark of a seasoned warrior and this idea made Sokka almost crave Jet's touches which caused him to gasp at his own thoughts. How could he think such a thing about another boy?!

Jet could feel the other teen beginning to tense above him and decided it was time to quicken his moves again before the other teen had too much time to think. He moved his mouth onto Sokka's once again for a deep fast rough kiss as his hand caused the rest of Sokka's tunic to tumble from his shoulders, making the perfect spot for Jet to move down with his mouth, biting and sucking, making sure to only mark the places where Sokka's tunic normally covered.

Sokka couldn't help but squeak and moan under Jet's ministrations, and he quickly moved his own mouth to Jet's neck, refusing to be outdone. That's when Jet's mouth moved to one of Sokka's nipples, teasing and sucking. Sokka struggled to hold his hips still now as his chest arched into Jet's mouth and his hands clutched at Jet's chest through his armor tunic, his thoughts unable to keep up with his actions.

Jet began to wish he'd removed his armor before he'd started this as armor removal would now be rather awkward, but he hoped to time it just right. He felt Sokka's legs tense on either side of him and knew this was the right time to make more of a move as he let his hips tilt up ever so slightly.

Sokka squeaked again, much to Jet's amusement, and felt himself push slightly back against Jet's added pressure to his groin. Jet answered in kind and Sokka just lost it as he found himself grinding harder into Jet again and again.

Jet knew if he didn't slow the other boy this would all end a bit too soon so he used this opportunity to sit up and tug off his armor top.

Sokka blinked a couple of times, feeling his cheeks spread with blush as he watched the other boy, suddenly feeling like he himself had started something really humiliating. His legs tensed again and his arms came to cross across his own, now bare, chest as he sat atop Jet, still straddling him and willing himself to hold still. He gave sort of a goofy face as Jet looked up at him and tilted his hips up to remove his uncomfortable armor panel belt.

"This is poking me… I bet it doesn't feel too comfortable to you either," Jet simply stated, rather calmly.

Sokka bit at his bottom lip and panted, trying hard to calm down and assess the situation. What was he doing?! How had he ended up making out with another boy?! He clambered for something witty to say.

"Heh… g-guess we got uh… c-carried away… er… one time Aang got carried away while he was peeling a potato for Katara and he peeled it so fast there was only a little nut sized bit left when he was…"

Jet realized that the other boy was starting to panic himself from thinking too much again so he cut him off once more with a hot deep kiss as his arms wrapped around him and pulled him to lay back atop his now bare chest.

Sokka shuddered and struggled to regain rational thought as his bare chest pressed tight to Jet's. Jet just kissed him and massaged in his hair for a bit longer until he was feeling a bit more relaxed once again. This wasn't so bad. So what if Jet was a boy. It wasn't a big deal. They were just practicing and no one was going to find out so it wasn't that big of a deal, right?

Sokka's thoughts dissolved completely as he felt one of Jet's hands slide into the back of his pants, but before he could react Jet's hips tilted forward again and Sokka found himself grinding with the other warrior, his own hips moving completely out of control. Soon, both of Jet's hands were in the back of Sokka's pants where they squeezed tight and blinded him with sexual pleasure and desire which is why when one of Jet's hands moved to the front to wrap around Sokka's arousal the younger teen did nothing to stop him.

Jet kept his movements on Sokka's erection very slow as he tried hard to get him used to the sensation so that he didn't orgasm too quickly.

All rational thought drifted entirely out of Sokka's head now as he bucked into Jet's hand while his eyes rolled back in his head and the calluses on Jet's hands drove him mad.

Jet was very opportunistic and used this moment to pull out his own penis and slide it against Sokka's. This only drove the dark skinned boy more wild, and he found himself gingerly reaching to help Jet in his strokes. Soon, the two of them rubbed and bucked together as they kissed, and Sokka bit Jet's lip, splitting it a little in the place normally covered by his ever present wheat grass he always seemed to chew on. Jet responded to Sokka's nip by poking his finger ever so slightly into Sokka's rear. This pushed Sokka over the edge and he shot hard, covering Jet's chest in cum. Seeing the sensuality of Sokka's ejaculation finished Jet off who added cum of his own to the mix.

Sokka fell atop Jet, exhausted, and covered in semen as his hand loosened around Jet's penis. His head just lay limp on Jet's chest as he fought hard to stay awake and to figure out what to say, but sleep soon took him as he still felt very fuzzy and warm.

Jet awoke the freshly cleaned Sokka early the next morning, shoving fresh hot porridge into his hands before he could manage to say anything. He found himself already mostly dressed save his boots and weapons. It was almost like last night had never happened and despite his deep embarrassment part of him just felt really good. He wolfed his porridge down and stood stretching with a smile starting to form. He supposed there was no reason to really be upset. If Jet wasn't upset or anything then why should he be, right?

Sokka was even beginning to wonder if the whole thing had been a dream anyway when Jet suddenly leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

"We should get going. We've got important work to do," Jet stated with a wink.

Sokka took a moment to give a slightly shocked look before he hopped to his feet. Jet was right. There was work to be done. There was no time to focus on something like last night right now.

Ten minutes later found the two boys joined by the rest of Jet's group as they scouted for Fire Nation. Sokka tried hard to just play it cool and pretend to look as experienced as possible while completely distracted by the preceding night's events. What had it all meant? Why had Jet kissed him that morning? Sokka began to think that the previous night had meant a lot more than just training or practicing, and he wondered if he minded that thought. Just as Sokka had almost concluded that maybe he didn't mind the thought that himself and Jet could be so close and possibly even a couple, an old man from the fire nation showed up, and Jet began to act crazy.

Sokka watched in horror as Jet and his group attacked, beat, and robbed the older Fire Nation gentleman, and all thoughts of the previous night being anything but a huge mistake began to quickly dissipate.

Sokka rushed back to tell Katara and Aang what had happened with the Fire Nation man, but neither of them seemed to be around. So he just sat against a tree, thinking. Jet seemed to have all of them wrapped around his finger with his great charismatic personality. That's when Sokka realized, in horror, that Jet had had him wrapped around his little finger too. Jet had manipulated him. It all made sense to Sokka now as he felt something sink in the pit of his stomach. Jet had… used him.

When Aang finally made it back from wherever he'd been, probably off playing with the others, Sokka tried desperately to convince Aang and Katara as he told them repeatedly how he didn't trust Jet because he was messed and they should just leave. He even made sure to call Jet Katara's girlfriend because a little nagging part of him was terrified one of them might figure out what had happened with him and Jet. Sokka told them the whole story of what had happened with the old man, and to his shock, Aang and Katara didn't believe him. Katara had even made Jet a hat! Jet just covered the whole thing up with some lame story about the guy being a secret assassin sent to kill Jet. The others bought Jet's story hook, line, and sinker, but not Sokka.

Sokka knew now that Jet had manipulated him and would probably do the same to anyone to get what he wanted. The Water Tribe boy was now just desperate to get out of there and leave all of this behind him, but his sister refused to leave, still determined to put her trust in Jet. Sokka skipped dinner that night for one of the only times in his life and hardly slept which proved useful as he awoke to find Jet's team up to something. He followed the team into the woods and overheard Jet's plans to blow up the dam and flood the city which left him horrified. Unfortunately, little time passed before Sokka's prying eyes were discovered and he was captured by some of Jet's group. Sokka knew now that there was nothing that Jet wouldn't do to get something he wanted, and he realized that all of the other night's talk between the two of them must have been manipulative lies. He was so furious at Jet he could almost spit on him.

Jet's minions took Sokka out into the forest, tied him up to a tree, and left him there, where he began to struggle, desperate to diffuse Jet's insane plans and wondering why Jet had told them to just leave. That's when Jet showed up.

"I thought you understood me, Sokka. I thought you understood our fight."

Sokka grimaced and glared at Jet hard, staring deep into his eyes.

"You used me, and now you're planning to murder all of those people!"

Jet scoffed and stepped closer.

"I'm planning to save all of those people from the tyranny of the fire nation, and you used me just as much. You loved it, Sokka."

Sokka's bottom lip began to quiver though his glare became darker.

"You lied to me… you manipulated me."

Jet shook his head and stepped a lot closer, leaning forward to breath hot words onto Sokka's ear.

"You wanted me to. You wanted me to give you permission so I told you what you needed to hear and you loved it."

Sokka gasped, his body suddenly trembling and his stomach dropping.

"T-That's not true!!! You're trying to manipulate me again, but I won't fall for it! I won't let you kill all of those people!" and with that statement, Sokka broke free of the tree and tackled Jet, punching him in the ribs with his tied together fists.

Jet fought back, rolling on the grass with Sokka as they struggled, but in the end Jet ended up atop Sokka, pinning the other teen's hands above his head.

Sokka peered up at Jet with loathing and malice so he was quite shocked when the forest dweller leaned down and kissed him. Had Jet no shame?! As far as Sokka was concerned he'd made it pretty clear that he did not like or trust Jet so he wondered why the named offender had just learned forward and kissed him out of nowhere.

"Let me go! I'm not going to let you blow up the dam!"

Jet ignored Sokka's words and began to kiss and suck at Sokka's ear, causing the warrior beneath him to struggle and squirm as he mouthed his protests.

"What the hell are you doing?! S-Stop it! I'm trying to talk to you! You can't blow up the mmm… Stop it!"

Jet continued to ignore Sokka's protests as he continued to appeal to Sokka's 'instincts' by weaseling a hand into Sokka's tunic as the appalled teen struggled beneath him, but when Jet pinched at Sokka's nipple the boy lost rational thought for a minute and arched into the touch ever so slightly. This only egged Jet on and before Sokka could regain clear thought Jet had tugged down his pants and wrapped a hand around his hard erection.

Much of Sokka's struggles turned to writhing and Jet used the opportunity to apply salve to his fingers from a jar in his pouch. When Sokka noticed that Jet had let go of his still bound hands he tried to bring them forward to push Jet away, but Jet quickly subdued Sokka once more when he inserted a slickened finger into Sokka's rear with his other hand as he squeezed tighter on Sokka's erection with his free hand.

Sokka bucked wildly at first, but then tried to struggle free of Jet once again, hissing and moaning too much to demand that the other teen stop once more. Unfortunately for Sokka, Jet found the one place he'd been looking for in Sokka and began to stroke at it. Sokka went wild, struggling at first, but soon he actually began to push Jet's probing fingers further into himself as his mind blanked of all rational things like saving villages, and he found himself full of desperate desire for nothing but raw pleasure.

Jet's smile was now quite greedy as he released Sokka's erection entirely and slowed his probing fingers in attempt to provoke a reaction in Sokka. Sokka groaned and continued to move onto Jet's fingers as Jet watched in satisfaction. Sokka's hands came forward shoving Jet away but then clutching at his tunic to pull him forward as the boy's teeth dug into his bottom lip and he struggled to regain his self control. To Jet, this struggle of power within the other boy was a beautiful sight. He wanted to drag it on forever but knew he had work to be done. Jets fingers probed deeper as he leaned forward to kiss the writhing boy and nip at an ear, but to Jet's surprise Sokka began to struggle and managed to punch into his semi-captor's stomach with his tied fists. This and the lack of time was definitely a sign to Jet that it was time to end this game for now. There would be plenty of time for sex later, but right now there was a battle to be won. Jet sucked harder on Sokka's ear and quickened his fingers inside of Sokka, forcing the wolf-tailed boy to suddenly scream with ecstasy as he came harder than he ever had, not that he had ever came in the presence of another person before meeting Jet.

Sokka's cheeks were now burning as Jet removed his fingers and slickly cleaned them on a pre-moistened cloth he had in his pouch. Jet wiped up Sokka as well, to the other teen's astonishment and distress. As he regained conscious thought Sokka began to struggle hard as hot tears he willed not to drip burned his eyes. Sokka refused to shed a single tear as he used Jet's distractions redressing him to sock Jet's gut once more, knocking the wind out of him.

This was Sokka's chance; he jumped to his suddenly uneven feet and began to sprint as he made quick work of removing his hands from the ropes. This all went pretty well despite Sokka's shaky legs and he managed to make it pretty far until he ran straight into Pipsqueak and Smellerbee who managed to somehow get the jump on him once again and were soon tying his hands together as Jet caught up. Jet instructed the two of them to take Sokka further into the forest as he left to deal with the explosives, leaving Sokka after catching the boy's eyes to give a smug wink. Sokka was furious and soon made quick work of escaping. He knew someone as shrewd as Jet would have several backup plans though so he went to the village and convinced everyone to vacate.

Sokka was so grateful when he arrived back to find Aang and Katara had also discovered Jets treachery. It was incredibly gratifying to finally get to leave. As the gang flew off and the others thanked Sokka in their own way he forced a bitter smile to his lips, trying hard not to think of all that Jet had taken from him. He swallowed hard and willed his eyes not to fill with tears as he smiled even harder, reminding himself that he should be happy since they were finally leaving. Everything was fine… Well, everything was going to be fine once they were away from Jet. Sure, he had some bad/confusing memories but they were only memories. According to Sokka's instincts everything was going to be fine now, wasn't it?

Zuko trained hard on the deck. All of his instincts told him that he just needed more training, to fight harder and faster, and the Avatar would be his. Capturing the Avatar would not only make him a hero and allow him entry back into his home but also would give him the love, respect, and attention he so desperately craved; though he tried so greatly to deny these wishes even to himself. Zuko's instincts told him that capturing that Avatar was linked to capturing all of his heart's most desperate desires. According to Zuko's instincts everything was going to be fine now that he'd found the Avatar existed, wasn't it?

TBC…

plude


	3. Chapter 3 Sokka's Perilous Quest for

This chapter is set in Ba Sing Se after Jet was taken away to prison and before Lake Laogai. Zuko still has no idea the Avatar is in Ba Sing Se.

**Warnings: slash/yaoi pairing, and someone dresses in drag as an escape plan, if you need to be warned about that sort of thing. *shrug* (It happened in **_**Mulan**_**. If Disney can get away with it so should I. :P)**

Main pairing: Sokka and Zuko in no particular order

Disclaimer: "Avatar the Last Airbender" is a property of Nickelodeon studios, and I claim no ownership or rights towards the story or its characters.

As always questions, comments, and critiques are welcomed and appreciated.

The Trouble In Being Zuko or Sokka

Chapter 3 "Sokka's Perilous Quest for Meat"

(Season 2) Location: Ba Sing Se

Zuko looked both ways as he crossed the urban street of Ba Sing Se. He had no concerns for the various ostrich-horses making their way down the path, but was instead looking for a single girl who seemed to constantly pop up wherever he went. Just yesterday he'd gone to the market with his uncle and she'd been there peering at him from behind a shelf. She was a considerable stalker at this point, the young firebender decided. He was close to certain that this young lady must be stalking him because she had somehow managed to figure out just who he was and was preparing herself, possibly at that very moment, to turn him and his uncle in. Zuko was being beyond careful.

On this particular morning, the cranky banished prince was out on a supply errand for the tea shop he had been working in. He scowled as he made his way down the street, his green and brown uniform all stained and half drenched in tea as usual by this time of day.

Zuko knew nothing of the finer points of serving others due to his servant filled upbringing, which left him with a vast knowledge of foreign lands, fighting skills, and bending but no skills for doing any sort of mundane tasks like serving tea. Before Zhao's death and the related incidents that had left Zuko labeled as an enemy of the Fire Nation the young prince even had servants who would get him dressed. Teaching Zuko the finer points of dressing himself after the two men became hunted had actually been quite the task for his uncle.

Sokka was on a mission. Since arriving at Ba Sing Se their team's accommodations had been far less humble than any the young warrior had ever pictured in his wildest dreams, but at this point they lacked one key ingredient to what Sokka considered to be a pleasant living environment: meat. Word had gotten out to the Dai Li that the Avatar did not eat meat; which did not bode well for Sokka, the carnivore, as the Dai Lee now refused to provide their little group with meat dishes. That was the prompt for Sokka's oh so important mission to the store. This was a mission of dire consequence. Sokka was not only in search of the purest form of protein for himself but also knew that if Toph and Katara didn't get some meat soon they might kill each other… or someone else… Since Sokka was usually the brunt of all of the group's crankiest moments he knew meat was an essential.

The young Water Tribe Warrior looked to the left and the right as he slowly made his way down the street. Dai Li member Ju-Dee could be seen toward the left following him. This mission was definitely going to take some careful maneuvers on Sokka's part if he had any hope of loosing his crazed stalker chaperone. Luckily, battle maneuvers were one of Sokka's best skills. He would just have to do a bit of dodging, weaving, crowd mixing, etc., and pretty soon he would be on his way to the other side of the city for delicious meat shopping. He even thought to maybe hit a food stand or two on the way.

Zuko looked down the street for Dai Li agents, eager to stay far away from them after he'd seen them drag off Jet. He knew no one had blamed him for the incident, but he wasn't about to take any chances. Besides, what he'd seen of the Dai Li had given him a bit of the creeps which was truly a lot to say for Zuko. He decided to take the less crowded, slightly longer way through the alley just to be safe, not to mention that Zuko didn't particularly care for crowds of Earth Kingdom people.

Sokka looked back to Ju-Dee. She was still hot on his trail, even after he'd hopped three fences and ran down more alleys than he could count. Something had to be done soon or she was going to stop and reprimand him after all of this running around. That's when he saw them, the perfect group to get lost in. A rather large group of dancers were making their way through the back alley, probably trying to avoid the crowd. He had to move fast as Ju-Dee was starting to close in, now calling him by name.

Sokka ran up to one of the dancers toward the center of the group.

"Uhh… Hey, I'm Sokka… I err… My crazy ex-girlfriend is following me, er stalking me… could you please…"

Sokka was cut off by soft giggles from the girl as she delicately covered her veiled mouth when she laughed. Without warning, before Sokka could blink, her and a group of other girls rather roughly stripped him of his tunic and shoved him into a pretty green dancer uniform and completed the look with a matching head-dress. Sokka blushed deep, but felt rather grateful as Ju-Dee made her way to the center of the group and completely walked right by him. Just as Sokka was sure that the danger had passed another danger presented itself.

Zuko was finally almost to the store when he came upon a huge group of street performers or dancers or something. He wasn't quite sure, but they annoyingly blocked the way so he just decided to shove his way through as he rapidly grew more annoyed.

Rather unfortunately for Sokka, his focus remained on Ju-Dee who had reappeared in the alley. As she grew rapidly closer, Sokka reached out and grabbed a for a random Earth Kingdom boy who seemed to be pushing his way through the crowd. This was a crazy plan, but it just might work. Sokka caught a slight profile of the boy's face as he pulled him close and hugged him tight just as Ju-Dee passed. It was a close call, but Sokka was able to hide his dark skinned face in the other boy's chest. Speaking of which, the profile of the other boy had looked quite familiar in some odd way.

Zuko froze as girl from the group suddenly reached out and hugged him, burying her face in his chest. He had no idea why this was happening to him, what to do with this girl, and why the other girls all seemed to be giggling as an odd creepy girl in regular Earth Kingdom clothes passed right by the two of them. Zuko just stood there like an antelope-deer staring at an oncoming stampede of ostrich-horse carts. He'd only been this close to a girl, aside from his mother, once before when his sister had tricked him into pushing Mei into the fountain, and they had been children. Sure, he had rode on that giant badger thing with Jun, the bounty hunter, but Zuko hadn't really thought of that as he'd been so focused on capturing the Avatar. Now, here he was stiffly standing there as a strange dancer glomped onto him.

Sokka felt quite humiliated now. How was he going to explain this one? He felt bad about lying to the girls, but he knew they wouldn't help him if they knew they were up against the Dai Li. Who knew what this guy would do? The Water Tribe teen figured he could just let go of the guy and take off into the crowd. Yes, that sounded like a good plan, and it might have been… had his pawn been anyone else…

As the girl suddenly let go Zuko reached out for her arm and reflexively grabbed her wrist. He wanted to know exactly what was going on and if the girl was attempting to pick-pocket him. He suspected no girl would actually just want to hug him for no apparent reason so being pick-pocketed made a lot more sense.

As deep blue eyes surrounded in dark soft skin met golden confused orbs, both boys were thrown into temporary confusion until Zuko suddenly realized that this could be the Water Tribe girl who had been traveling with the Avatar, and Sokka came to the very real understanding of just how much danger he was now in. Zuko was here, in Ba Sing Se. Somehow the Fire Nation Prince had managed to penetrate the defenses in the city. Sokka gulped and looked down at his wrist which was being gripped more tightly by the moment. He was about to be captured by Zuko.

Zuko had no idea what he was going to do with the Water Tribe girl now that he had her, but the Avatar seemed to have a deep attachment to her in their previous battles, like when he'd gone to so much trouble just to reclaim the girl's necklace. A plan began to form in Zuko's mind to use the girl to capture the Avatar when suddenly…

"Eieeeeeeeeyeyyyeeeeeeeeee!!! Let go of me you pervert!" Sokka screamed and slapped Zuko with his free hand, since he didn't know what else to do. He silently prayed his head would not soon become engulfed in flames.

All of the other girls immediately closed in on Zuko, tugging Sokka free as they hit Zuko with various fans, purses, and batons. Zuko chased after the Water Tribe 'girl' as the various dancers took off after him; they were all soon followed by a large group of Dai Li agents. Zuko was sure he'd be arrested now for attacking the Water Tribe girl if he didn't run, but there was no way he was going to let her escape him. This was his only chance, and he was desperate. He just wanted to go home.

Sokka ran hard and looked back only to find Zuko right on his tail still. If he couldn't even lose Ju-Dee all that easily Sokka had no idea how he was going to lose Zuko. After all, this was Zuko, world's greatest stalker.

Suddenly, Sokka got an idea and reached for the nearest door. He ran in and hoped to lose Zuko once inside. Sokka made his way pretty far into the building, as he ran through room after room before he was stopped dead in his tracks. Inside was filled with girls in towels getting full body massages, manicures, pedicures, and the like. Sokka squeezed his eyes shut, now feeling quite awful for the intrusion into such a private feminine part of the building. The good news was that Zuko would probably be hard pressed to follow him in here. The bad news followed quickly as an attendant greeted Sokka.

"Good evening miss. What service have you arrived at our lovely spa for today?"

The water tribe boy's eyes went wide. He had no idea how to make himself sound like a girl. He'd just gotten lucky with the earlier screaming. Sokka just stared.

"Oh dear, can you not speak?"

Sokka shook his head.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Should we start you out with a complimentary spa bed session?"

The undercover boy nodded and guessed that this place would definitely be a good place to hide out for a while until things blew over. He allowed himself to be led into a room full of baths (that was a little closer towards where he'd come in that he would have liked) as he was trying to figure out how he was going to get around taking his clothes off.

Sarcasm guy's question was answered as suddenly a loud ruckus could be heard in the other room along with multiple female voices screaming. Sokka wasn't entirely sure what was happening in the other room, but his whole body shuddered when he heard the very familiar voice and tone of Ju-Dee asking about him from a room in the opposite area of the spa from the strange screaming. Without hesitation Sokka grabbed a short bamboo pole from a nearby flower arrangement and jumped into the nearest bath, clothes and all. Sokka struggled for air as he cleared the bamboo pole with the tip of his boomerang while underwater. He had to force himself not to gasp as he pushed his veil aside and poked the pole out in the corner of the soapy water filled tub.

Zuko had no idea what he was getting himself into when he ducked into the building he'd seen the Water Tribe 'girl' run into. He thought he could keep her from escaping as he dodged the insane tirade of dancers that seemed to be chasing him.

The plan had seemed to be a good one at the time. How could Zuko have known the unmarked building was actually a women's day spa? Now, he was being chased by the women from the alley and the day spa staff. This had definitely not been his day; but then what day ever had been he wondered as he ran through rooms and searched desperately for a place to hide.

Salvation came in sight when he entered a surprisingly empty spa room which already had a piece of bamboo leaning against the edge of the tub. He figured the bamboo was probably for some girl spa thing he didn't really understand or want to understand. The undercover firebending prince really did not want to end up soaked from head to toe at this point, but he saw little choice as the crazed groups of women could be heard gaining on him from nearby rooms. One thing Zuko learned from growing up with his sister was the best way to deal with crazy women was to avoid them whenever possible, and he suspected this was definitely one of those times. The nervous prince had also seen how easily Jet was captured and dragged off by the Dai Li. He imagined that this could all lead to a battle he didn't want, and he knew for sure that he did not want to end up going wherever Jet had been taken. With a strong resolve, Zuko grabbed the bamboo (which seemed to be lodged in something at first) and jumped in the water, clothes and all.

Sokka was starting to think everything was going to be fine when suddenly the bamboo shoot was plucked right out of his mouth and he felt the water fluctuate around… a second person? This wasn't just any second person… Sokka's eyes became like saucers as they came to focus on one of his worst nightmares now in the tub with him, using his breathing device no less. He choked to hold his breath, somehow finding the threat of Zuko to be far less than what Ju-Dee, much less his sister, would do to him if he was caught in a women's spa house.

Zuko suddenly realized he was not alone as he felt the water start to move. He reluctantly forced his eyes open to spot the Water Tribe 'girl'? He couldn't entirely tell. The water burned his eyes as he tried to get a clearer view. At least he'd managed to catch up with his target, he thought. That's when it dawned on him that the Water Tribe girl wasn't leaving or making any move to run away; in fact she looked like she was about to drown if she didn't get some air soon. The thought suddenly occurred to the egocentric prince that he'd managed to steal her air device. He had no idea what she was doing still hiding now that he'd found her, but he wasn't about to just let her drown or let her jump out and give away his location; so he grabbed her and shoved the air tube into her mouth, as he held his breath.

Gritting his teeth, Sokka willed himself not to pass out from lack of oxygen. That's when Zuko suddenly grabbed him. He wanted to struggle but didn't have the strength with the lack of air. Then something surprising happened, and the make-shaft air tube was shoved into his gasping mouth.

Sokka had no idea what Zuko was up to and was not to keen on sharing the 'indirect kiss' air tube with Zuko, but he didn't have much of a choice if he wanted to make his way through this ridiculous fiasco unscathed. He shuddered as his mind played out a deadly scene involving Ju-Dee and a group of Dai Li dragging him back to their current lodgings only to tell his sister all about his bath house scandal. He would never live this horrendous mistake down. Oh no, he suspected he'd even kiss Zuko if he had to, to escape this dissaster. This idea made Sokka almost wince. Gross!!! Kiss Zuko!!! Sokka thought he must have either been going crazy or completely without oxygen to his brain to even have such a thought.

He had no idea why Zuko was still hiding under water there with him. He suspected Zuko's reasons were similar to his own. This had been a fine mess he'd managed to get himself into once again. Here Sokka was thinking that the time he got the fish hooks stuck in his thumb had been bad, but that incident didn't even seem to compare to this one. A small part of Sokka longed for the much more simple messes he used to make of things before this crazy journey had begun.

Zuko wrapped an arm around the Water Tribe girl's waist, as he was careful not to touch her anywhere unseemly, but he did not want her to escape when the vibrations of footsteps in the room stopped. The waterlogged prince was starting to run out of air now himself as he moved his face closer to hers so he could take the air tube away from her and steal a few breaths. That's when Zuko caught a better look at 'her'… no 'him'?

It was the Water Tribe boy that Zuko had captured under the water; the Water Tribe boy in a dress? Zuko had no idea what the Water Tribe boy was doing in a dress nor did he care as he now only desired air. He grabbed the tube and had a mini-struggle with the other warrior boy before managing to force the crucial device away from him enough to steal a breath, while accidently brushing his own lips into the Water Tribe Boy's. Zuko didn't really think anything of their momentary lip touch as he was starved for air at that moment.

Sokka gasped a little as Zuko's arm wrapped around his waist, but he didn't want to struggle enough to draw attention. He could still hear the vibration of footsteps running through the room outside of the tub. That was when Zuko moved closer and tried to take back the air tube. There was no way Sokka planned to give up the air tube this time. He struggled to keep the bamboo in his mouth and breath as Zuko struggled to take it from him. Suddenly Sokka felt very warm lips brush his own. He almost choked and let go of the air tube out of shock as he mentally willed himself to never ever think of this moment again as Zuko had clearly just been trying to get air from the tube.

All of a sudden the boys could feel the vibrations of a door as it was shut rather loudly and abruptly. No further footsteps vibrated in the room. The two boys exchanged confused glances as Sokka began to gasp for air again since he hadn't had a chance to get a breath before Zuko had stolen his air tube back.

As the Water Tribe teen gasped for air Zuko returned the air tube as he shoved it into Sokka's mouth once again, which earned him an odd shocked look from said teen. The undercover teashop waiter began to wonder just how much longer they should stay under. He could feel no vibrations of footsteps, but if his timing was off…

Sokka was scared to get caught but he was rapidly realizing the danger of his current situation and was rather shocked when Zuko offered him more air. He took a few deep breaths and decided it was time to try and escape as there seemed to be no more footsteps outside the tub. Sokka's strategic mind told him the best time to attempt escape would be when Zuko hadn't had the air tube and was reaching for it. That would be when Zuko was at his weak…

The boy's scheming escape plans dissolved as Zuko's grip on Sokka tightened without warning and the stalker prince abruptly stood, hauling Sokka along for the ride. Regrettably, timing was on neither man's side that day and both wished they'd never left that tub, or perhaps their beds that morning.

The shaken prince couldn't really see what made his prisoner "eeep!" in such a high pitch as his head had gotten tangled in the other man's skirt on their way out of the tub, and he was busy trying to dislodge it. As soon as he was able to peek out with the better of his two eyes the sight he found waiting for him was unnerving to say the least. Zuko, who had traveled and battled hard through the ends of the four nations looking for the Avatar, now choked at the site of a room full of angry manicured, pedicured women who looked hungry for the kill. He quickly looked to the left and right, desperate for a means of escape, but the women left no opening, no opening on the ground.

Just above was a skylight so Zuko quickly helped himself to Sokka's boomerang, ripped off Sokka's silk dancing skirt, tied the two together, and threw with all his might.

Sokka couldn't believe Zuko's nerve. How dare he rip off his skirt and steal his boomerang from under it! He was about to say something when Zuko threw his beloved boomerang upwards. Sokka looked up to see Zuko's plan, a skylight.

The boomerang hit the skylight with a slight "thunk" and fell straight back down to ricochet square off Zuko's head before it landed in Sokka's hand.

"Ha! Keep your hands off my boomerang. You can't even use it right, boomerang-misuser!" with that Sokka pitched his boomerang through the skylight and pulled the long scarf attached to the weapon to ark the blade just right so it caught.

"All riiiigghhhttt! Boomerang!!!" Sokka declared loudly before he started to high five Zuko who just began to climb and carry Sokka up the silk fabric of Sokka's skirt as the younger teen wondered what he had just been thinking. Sokka had no idea how he was going to free himself of Zuko once they were up the skirt. Sokka's mind rapidly ran over the pun possibilities of that last thought, and after careful deliberation he pointedly decided against it as better judgment was on his side just this once.

As Zuko scurried up the skirt veils, the women below pelted the two guys invading their bathhouse with hot tubs of paraffin wax, leaving the two warriors completely covered in the stuff by the time they reached the top.

As soon as both boys were safely out of the room Sokka began to struggle, and Zuko struggled to subdue him without hurting him severely or firebending. Luck was once again on Sokka's side this time as the hot paraffin wax made him just slippery enough to slide right out of Zuko's grasp and clumsily off the edge of the roof into a large pile of cabbages. Sokka determined that cabbages were surprisingly nature's fall-breakers as he swiftly scrambled to his feet and took off sprinting. From behind he could hear shouts from the poor cabbage vender about his cabbages.

When Zuko saw that the Water Tribe boy had landed just fine and was now running away he quickly followed suit and leapt off the building after him. After the brash prince squashed the remainder of the cabbages he jumped up and darted off after his target as he ignored the shouts from the cabbage vender.

Sokka squeaked when he realized Zuko was once again right on his tail. He wished that the relentless stalker would just give up, but he knew from previous encounters that Zuko would die before he'd stop once his mind was on a goal. The prince was incredibly persistent.

The fleeing meat and sarcasm guy ran into the busy shopping streets as he hoped a mass crowd could help to deter his pursuer. The thought occurred to the wolf-tailed teen that he was pretty conspicuous all covered in wax and shirtless with bits of dance veils still draped around his shoulders. People were beginning to stare. He thought his appearance couldn't be that bad until he caught a glimpse of himself in a shop mirror which caused him to blush head to toe. It was bad. Sokka quickly ducked into a clothing shop with the hopes that Zuko hadn't seen him go in. This could be like several birds with one stone according to Sokka's plans. He could hide from Zuko while getting less humiliating and conspicuous clothes. Plus, Sokka loved shopping. He wondered if he'd find another matching belt and bag since he still missed his belt that Toph reclaimed.

Once he was inside, the shop keep looked Sokka up and down suspiciously while he tried to decide if the boy should be taken to the women's or the men's area of the tent. Sokka didn't hesitate as he headed to the men's section, now eager to find something not wax covered to wear. He really just wanted his own tunic back. He only had a couple of those tunics left. Between the fighting, burning, losing equipment, swamp creatures, general wear and tear, etc. Sokka had lost most of his clothes and possessions on this trip; so, he really didn't want to lose another tunic. Sokka mused on how those tunics had become like his little blue security blankets. Those tunics were a little piece of the home Sokka knew would never be the same if he got to return, the home that Sokka wondered if he'd ever get to see again during each and every battle.

Zuko scanned the crowds for any sign of his fleeing captive. He told himself he would not let the boy get away no matter what. The prince hated the crowded masses of Earth Kingdom villagers swarming around him like insects, bumping into him repeatedly. He wasn't used to this sort of thing, and without his uncle around to handle things for him he found himself very agitated, not that this was at all an uncommon feeling for Zuko. He tried hard to stay focused on his target as the passersby stared at his wax covered state. The annoyed prince paid them no mind and rushed on through the crowd, as he followed the other boy's wax droppings on the ground. That's when Zuko's eyes caught sight of something blue and familiar on the road.

The undercover prince's tea-stained wax covered hands reached for the neatly bundled blue cloth just as an Earth Kingdom boy completely missed sight of his hunched over form and tripped right over him. The force of the impact caused Zuko to fall over as well, but he barely managed to grab the potential clue in the process as the tripping boy took out a large chunk of the crowd around Zuko. Zuko stuffed the blue bundle into his shirt for safe keeping and used the opening created by all of the tripping and falling people to make his way through the street to a shop where the wax trail led.

Sokka tapped his foot nervously. He was stuck in line as he waited to pay for the clothes he picked. The quirky tribe teen was rapidly getting more nervous at the dangers of waiting around, but he certainly didn't want to run around half naked, partially in drag, and covered in wax anymore. He didn't even want to think of what people guessed that was all about. Sadly for Sokka, he never made his way to the front of the line because Zuko appeared at the door quite rapidly.

The wry tribal boy dropped the clothes in his arms and took off running again with a squeal. He dodged the other shoppers and darted out the back of the sales tent only to crash head first into Zuko who had apparently guessed the unlucky guy's desperate plan.

Zuko reached into his shirt as he struggled with the Water Tribe boy and pulled out the outer wrappings of the blue bundle he'd found in the street.

Sokka fought and struggled hard as Zuko held him tight. He felt lucky Zuko wasn't fire bending at him which he guessed was because the other boy was obviously undercover, probably so he could stalk Aang some more now that they were in Ba Sing Se. Sokka was unexpectedly shocked as Zuko pulled Sokka's lost belt out from somewhere inside his shirt. This little bit of distraction was all Zuko needed.

Zuko made good use of the long piece of pale blue fabric he pulled from his shirt and used it to bind the struggling squealing boy's hands. He then grabbed the remaining silk scarf from the sarcastic warrior's shoulders and used it to bind his feet, as his potential prisoner managed to sock him in the good eye with his bound hands. Zuko took the hit with a slight squint and hoisted the boy up over his right shoulder. This plan seemed to be working alright, but Zuko knew he couldn't just sneak back to the tiny apartment he shared with his Uncle while carrying the Water Tribe boy without being spotted. He knew a disguise of some sort was in order, but what?

Sokka wasn't about to just let Zuko get away with tying him up with his own clothing pieces, which he wondered where the prince had gotten them. The half dressed warrior continued to struggle hard.

"Let me go you crazy clothes stealing stalker. You… You're just a… jerk-bender! Yeah, you jerk-bender! Let me go, captain cranky prince!!!"

The undercover prince knew if he didn't shut the angry prisoner up that he would easily be caught so he pulled a napkin from the shop out of his pocket and stuffed it in the Water Tribe boy's mouth before depositing the boy inside a large empty barrel for safe keeping while he went to look for something to hide his face in case he was spotted.

As he rushed to the nearest booth on the other side of the alley, Zuko purchased a long green scarf which he quickly wrapped around his head as he shot back into the alley. Things would have started to go much better for banished fire warrior at that moment had the owners of the barrel not picked the few moments of his absence to load their traveling cart.

Sokka peeked out the cracks in the barrel Zuko sealed him in and realized that the shop keep's crew were loading him into a cart. He supposed he could make noise to stop them, but on the other hand, this might be his best opportunity to make a quick escape from all of his pursuers as he suspected Ju-Dee would probably have the Dai Li looking for him in that area as well. Sokka kept his mouth shut and began to work on the knots in the scarf that bound his feet.

Zuko zipped off sprinting after the wagon and managed to barely keep up. Just as the cranky prince's hand made contact with the back of the cart he spotted the Dai Li squad from earlier. The Dai Li now patrolled the streets and stopped carts and wagons to check inside. Zuko didn't know if this had to do with the earlier incidents and he didn't want to find out. He quickly leapt into the back of the wagon. Once he landed Zuko scurried to the barrel, pulled off the top, crammed himself in with the squirming protesting Tribe boy, and replaced the barrel's lid.

Sokka thought he was home free finally as he managed to untie his feet. Unfortunately, that's when Zuko showed up once again out of no where and ripped the lid off the barrel. Before the dark skinned teen could make a move Zuko had shoved him over and jumped in the barrel with him. The Water Tribe warrior had no idea what was going on, but he wasn't about to just let Zuko stuff him in a barrel and kidnap him. He started to struggle hard and make as many loud noises as he could which caused the barrel to tip over. The new barrel position forced Sokka to lie atop Zuko.

Zuko didn't really notice or care about the Water Tribe boy's precarious position on top of him. He was far more worried about the Dai Li; so he pressed his hand over the boy's mouth just as the fraught boy finally spit out the teashop napkin.

"Shhh… the Dai Li from earlier are stopping wagons. Do you want to get caught?" Zuko whispered into the other teen's ear with hot breath.

As Zuko's heated breath caressed Sokka's sensitive ear and the prince panted (from his earlier sprint) against him in the tight quarters of the barrel Sokka became painfully aware of the closeness of their positions. His eyes went wide and he stopped struggling as he was equally afraid of getting caught by the Dai Li. The pubescent Tribal teen shifted ever so slightly as he tried to find a less compromising position to be lay atop Zuko in. As it was Zuko slid in the barrel atop him so quickly he had been sitting in Sokka's lap straddling his legs until Sokka tipped the barrel over. Now Sokka was lying atop Zuko with Zuko's legs straddling him and Zuko's arms wrapped around his waist (probably to keep him from escaping).

Under the wax and lavender aroma from the spa Zuko had an oddly strong odor of tea and tea cookies, which was starting to make Sokka really hungry. He was actually very glad for the distraction as he willed away memories he told himself were bad of Jet that were starting to cloud his thoughts given the situation, and he became agonizingly aware of his man bits being crushed against the fire nation boy's.

The fire warrior was completely unaware of the profanities starting to run their course through the pony-tailed boy's head. He was more than distracted with thoughts of using said boy to capture the Avatar and keeping himself out of harm's way from the Dai Li. A lot of technical plans swiftly ran through the prince's head, but he did manage to note the somewhat pleasant spicy scent of the other warrior.

The squirming wolf-tailed warrior became aware that Zuko was very warm, warmer than anyone he'd ever been this close to before. In an odd way the heat felt really good, but in the current situation it was making Sokka sweat nervously and his stomach do flip flops. The unnerved teen also cringed at the dark prince's deep honeyed golden eyes which seemed to be boring holes through his own.

Zuko watched as the other warrior, who had started to shake rather oddly, slid his tongue out and licked sweat droplets that had formed on his upper lip. The temperature was getting a bit warm in the barrel, and the spoiled prince wasn't used to being packed in this close with another human being, especially an enemy. The situation was beginning to agitate him, the weight of the other boy atop him, but then another part of Zuko felt bizarrely comforted by the heat coming from the other boy. Zuko hadn't been held since his mother disappeared when he was just a child so he simply wasn't used to this closeness.

The Southern Water Tribe native teen never thought anything of packing in to sleep with large groups of people when they started this trip. After all, the best way to stay warm was to sleep with other people, and when you live in arctic lands it only makes sense to do what is necessary to stay warm. When they first left to help Aang Sokka often had trouble sleeping because he felt so oddly alone sleeping by himself, but he never mentioned his discomfort out of embarrassment. That was before he met Jet. Now touches and closeness that would have seemed harmless before had Sokka panting and on the verge of being turned on.

Zuko was beginning to wonder how many more times he would have to hide in some ridiculous way with the Water Tribe boy before this would all be over when he suddenly felt the wagon stop. This was it, either they were at the Wagon's destination or they were being stopped by the Dai Li.

Sokka stiffened even more as the wagon came to a stop. He told himself to calm down and focus as he knew there could be a battle at any moment, whether to escape Zuko or the Dai Li. The clever warrior had been working on untying the belt holding his hands together behind his back since the trip had started, and he could feel his hands starting to slip free. He left his hands in the now loosely tied belt. It wouldn't do to rush this or Zuko would find out he was free and try to retie him. This task was going to take patience and timing.

Through the cracks the two teens could see one of the booth's workers begin to unload the cart. When their barrel's turn to be unloaded arrived, the workers had quite a bit of difficulty as the weight of the barrel had doubled since they brought it in. The two workers struggled with the barrel and dropped it on their way out of the cart, causing it to break open.

Sokka was ready for action. As soon as the barrel burst open he rolled to the side and took off running with his belt in hand.

Zuko thought he was ready but hadn't been expecting the barrel to suddenly break open. When the shop keeper, a portly older woman, saw him she grabbed a huge fish from one of the other containers and began to beat him with it as she screamed in a tone so piercing the prince was almost paralyzed by it. He scrambled away, now reeking of fish, and took off after the Water Tribe boy, but the delay made him lose sight of the teen and he was hard pressed to find any clues or more wax leavings at the end of the street.

Team Avatar's strategist shot his plan into action when he reached the end of the alley. He took a hint from his and Zuko's most recent ride and hopped onto the back of a passing cart. This would definitely be his ride to freedom.

The undercover hunter looked everywhere but found no trace of the Water Tribe boy or the Avatar, and the day was starting to get quite late. His shift at the teashop had ended thirty minutes ago, and he still hadn't gotten any of the tea supplies. The desperate banished prince did not want to give up on his last chance at redemption but he saw no other choice. The Water Tribe boy was obviously long gone by now along with Zuko's hopes of ever going home.

Sokka's delicate nose detected the delicious smell of meat; the hunter almost squealed with delight when he realized he was on a meat wagon. This day worked out better than he thought. He could buy some meat when the wagon stopped and dash home as the wagon actually seemed to be heading closer to his side of town.

Zuko's day did not go so well. He discarded the green scarf he'd bought in a trash bin in total defeat and went to buy the tea shop supplies. The line for the shop supplies was very long and tedious which just added to Zuko's soured mood. He began to wonder if he'd ever catch a break. The sun was beginning to set by the time the downfallen prince finally made his way home to his uncle and their miniscule apartment.

Iroh smelled the distinct odor of fish approaching. The tea obsessed ex-general wondered if Zuko was bringing fish home for dinner. He supposed the line at the market must have been ridiculous today for Zuko to be so late. Perhaps the boy had run into a bit of trouble he mused. Iroh hoped there hadn't been any trouble, but he trusted Zuko was strong and would soon find his way home which he did at that very moment.

The door flung open and in walked one very cantankerous, wax covered, fish reeking teenager with a bruise over his good eye.

"Oh good, there you are Nephew, I was beginning to think the ladies at the tea supply shop had kidnapped you," Iroh greeted and winked in good spirits.

Zuko rushed right past his uncle into his room where he slammed the sliding door.

Iroh sighed softly and sipped at his tea, "Don't worry, I won't ask how your day was."

Zuko didn't answer. He laid on the futon in his miniscule room and stared up at the ceiling feeling dead to the world. He'd failed. It was over. This was the end. He would just have to live out his life here in Ba Sing Se, answering to 'Li' and serving tea. He'd never regain his honor or…

Zuko was brought out of his pained reflection by the feeling of a soft lump in his shirt. He reached in and his fingers caught the smooth roll of cloth. The bundle was the fabric he had picked up earlier on the street. He gently unrolled the cloth to find the object was actually one of the Water Tribe boy's tunics. Zuko eyed the tunic up and down before he brought it to his face and inhaled the boy's spicy scent he recognized from their trip in the barrel. It had been real. Zuko had been so close to capturing the Water Tribe boy and using him to capture the Avatar. If the Avatar really was in Ba Sing Se he might return. Another chance might come. All Zuko could do was hope, and until then, he had this memento, this little piece of the Avatar's group to hold onto.

Sokka slowly opened the door and tiptoed inside. He carried a large bag of meat but was eager to sneak past the prying eyes of his sister or the group as he wasn't sure how he would answer any questions about the day and his wax covered, shirtless state. He just couldn't tell them that Zuko had been there in the city looking for them. He couldn't bring himself to make things worse. Everyone was miserable enough with Appa missing and everything. Sokka figured Zuko would assume they had left now that they knew the stalker was there. That was what they usually did, and Zuko didn't know anything was different this time. The semi-wise strategist figured it was a logical assumption that the cranky prince would leave once again as he tried to keep up with them and everything would probably be fine… he hoped.

"Sokka!" Katara's harsh demanding voice sounded behind the sneaky strategist just as hand made sweet contact with the door to his room. He stiffened.

"Y-Yeeesssss…"

"Where have you been, and what is that all over you?! For that matter, where is your tunic?!"

Sokka squeaked in answer and held up the bag of fresh meat he'd brought home.

His motherly sister glared at him as she tapped her foot.

"I… I went to get meat, see!" Sokka proclaimed in attempted enthusiasm.

Katara shook her head. She couldn't believe that boy, always getting into trouble, and now he had gone and lost one of his last tunics. She could tell she had sewing work cut out for her, and she was pretty sure Sokka wasn't even going to give her an explanation at all this time. The busy waterbending warrior sighed.

"Go get cleaned up for dinner."

TBC…

(Lol. Was that enough of a chase scene there? I'm totally picturing Zuko, Sokka, Ju-Dee, the Dai Li, and a bathhouse full of half naked women in some sort of "Scooby-Doo" esc chase scene all over Ba Sing Se with "Benny Hill" theme music playing in the background.)

plude


	4. Chapter 4 Ember Island Moonlight

This chapter is set in on Ember Island after Team Avatar went to watch the Ember Island Players. Also, this chapter will actually star some characters that aren't just Sokka, Zuko, and Jet. I know… who would have thought there were characters in "Avatar" who weren't Zuko and Sokka? Shocking, isn't it? Don't worry, next chapter goes back to being more Sokka and Zuko centric.

**Warnings: slash/yaoi main pairing**

Main pairing: Sokka and Zuko in no particular order; there is a lot of Aang + Katara for this chapter (Sorry, it's not slash, but it's cannon, and not everyone in Avatar world can be gay all the time, as much as some of us, like myself, might like them to… *sweatdrop*) There is also some light Sokka x Suki, Sokka x Yue, and a small hint of past Zuko x Mai. (Hey yaoi fans, I'm trying to be as cannon as possible here. I can't just make the characters not exist and have this make any sort of sense. Besides, it's more entertaining to dwell over Sokka and Zuko's past as a whole.)

This fic is dedicated to my lovely girlfriend and beta Ritsu-chan who, actually, came up with the idea for the setting of this chapter.

Disclaimer: "Avatar the Last Airbender" is a property of Nickelodeon studios, and I claim no ownership or rights towards the story or its characters.

I would love any questions, comments, critiques that you may have.

Wow, this is my longest chapter ever!

The Trouble In Being Zuko or Sokka

Chapter 4 "Ember Island Moonlight"

(Season 3) Location: Ember Island

The image replayed in Sokka's dreams again and again. There were multiple nights that the group's tan skinned warrior had awakened to his most torturous memories and paced about while the others innocently slept. These sleepless nights left Sokka exhausted in the mornings, and he always tried to sleep in, only to be awoken by various acts of bending water and rocks. The stressed warrior tried hard to force himself to sleep, but the visage of Sokka's first love as she dissolved into soft white moonlight played itself over and over in his nightmares.

This time things were worse. Sokka actually had to watch the worst thing that had ever happened to him being acted out right in front of him. He tried hard to distract himself with jokes and when he taught the actor that posed as him how to sound more like him, but ultimately, at the end of the night, the image was still there, in the back of Sokka's mind. It tore at him.

Sokka tossed and turned next to Suki; the two of them had been sneaking to each other's sleeping areas and slept together since Zuko and he had rescued her. They hadn't really done anything that they wouldn't do in front of the others. Sokka wasn't sure he was ready to go exploring any unchartered territory just yet, and he knew he wasn't ready for Suki to break all of his fingers if he went too far, which he suspected she just might. He needed his fingers for throwing his boomerang and eating. The truth of the matter was he liked the comfort of having someone near him, and he liked the idea that nothing could happen to take her away in the middle of the night without him knowing about it. When Suki was captured before a little voice in Sokka's head kept ringing out that he had the kiss of death or something since such perilous things had happened to every girl he'd ever kissed soon after he kissed them. Now Sokka was just grateful Suki was here with him, alive and ok, but he couldn't stop thinking about Yue. Tears burned Sokka's eyes and he quickly crawled out of bed, eager to leave before Suki awoke and saw him like this.

Zuko sighed as he sat in the sand and looked off into the ocean. He wished that Ember Island really could cleanse him of his sins and help him to start anew. The scenes from that awful play kept reciting themselves in his head, and he wasn't sure how any of the Avatar crew could be sleeping after that. He really wished they had never gone to see the terrible show as he felt three times as guilty now about all the terrible things he had done, especially how he'd treated his uncle who had been the only person to care for him since his mother disappeared. The ashamed prince bit his bottom lip hard and shook his head as he pulled the dark cloak he'd been wearing tighter around his shoulders. He only hoped if the battle did end like he'd seen in that play that he would at least get the chance to apologize to his uncle before he died.

As Sokka stepped outside his eyes caught the soft glow of moonlight as the moon hung high in the sky above the vast ocean. Tears the young warrior tried so hard to will away drip down his cheeks and onto the sand. The distraught teen was so busy staring at the moon he didn't even notice the dark clad figure sitting in the sand close to the water beneath it.

The angsty prince's head turned when his sharp hearing caught the sound of the door to the cabin softly shut. There, standing out in the sand, was Sokka, the Water Tribe boy, who didn't even seem to notice his presence. Zuko's mouth dropped slightly in shock as his eyes fixed on the soft sparkles from the fluid dripping down the boomerang wielder's cheeks. The antisocial (until recently) prince didn't know what to do. He knew he wasn't good at this sort of thing at all, but the other boy really seemed to be in pain. Zuko felt even more selfish now since had just been thinking about himself when he was obviously not the only one bothered. The thoughtful warrior's clever mind hastily dashed to the scene in the play about Sokka's moon girlfriend as he recalled their brief conversation about her, in the war balloon. Thinking back on the moment the distraught Water Tribe warrior must have needed to talk more about her then or he wouldn't have brought her up, but Zuko hadn't asked not wanting to pry. He realized now that maybe he should have.

The prince quickly formed a strategic plan of action and reached a hand into his pocket, feeling around for the fire gummies he'd bought earlier that night, as he stood to make his way over to the disturbed teen.

Sokka's eyes caught the movement when Zuko stood and he jumped with a squeak. He couldn't believe he hadn't realized the group's newest member was there. How long had he just been standing there staring at the moon? He quickly turned away and wiped his eyes on the back of his arm. It wasn't like Sokka to cry. He was a warrior. Warriors shouldn't cry. He couldn't even picture Zuko crying he thought to himself as he suddenly felt the dark prince's warm breath on the back of his neck.

"H-Hey! …Sokka. Umm… You want some fire gummies?" Zuko asked and smacked himself in the forehead as he felt like he sounded really stupid.

The sarcasm guy took a deep breath, plastered a huge grin on his face, and turned around. "You have fire gummies?! What, have you been holding out on me?!"

Zuko tried to smile as he held out a hand full of gummies, but his smile looked somewhat forced and confused in mirror of the uneasiness he felt inside.

Sokka helped himself to the offered gummies and actually did feel a bit better as he stuffed them into his mouth. Food was always a good distraction for him.

"These are great! Thanks, Zuko!" the upset teen managed to squeak out in an almost ridiculously loud tone.

The group's misfit prince didn't know what to say once again so he pulled the whole bag of gummies out of his pocket and held them up.

"I don't think I can eat all of these. Y-You want to have a picnic or something…ehh?" the warrior mentally cursed himself for being so bad at this. Why was getting along with people so hard, he pondered.

Team Avatar's sarcasm guy quirked an eyebrow, "I could help you with that problem. Hey, why don't we grab some more snacks too?"

The firebender let out a soft breath in relief that he hadn't messed this up, "Sure, Sokka. I'll make some tea."

At that statement the Water Tribe teen paused and looked thoughtful for a moment.

"W-What?" Zuko wondered if he'd managed to say something wrong.

"Weeelllll… you don't smell like tea cookies anymore?" Sokka stated questioningly with an almost sad pout.

Zuko raised his eyebrows in complete surprise, "What?"

"Well… I just mean… in Ba Sing Se you smelled like tea and tea cookies, and I remembered when we were watching the Ba Sing Se part. I thought that play would explain it, but all the dumb play showed was when you fought us right before we left Ba Sing Se... Soooo… I was sort of wondering…"

"I worked in a tea shop."

"What? Really? Why?"

"Yeah, with my uncle," Zuko let out a soft sigh. "My uncle and I worked in tea shops while we were living in Ba Sing Se to pay for a place to stay… and food."

"Really? Why didn't you just use all your prince Fire Nation money you used on the ship to chase us all over the place?"

The banished prince sighed as he wondered how this had all suddenly become about him. Weren't they supposed to be talking about Sokka and what was bothering him or eating picnic food? This wasn't working out well at all, and it was rapidly becoming embarrassing to.

"My uncle and I were considered to be traitors of war after the incident in the Northern Water Tribe with General Zhao."

Zuko hoped that explanation would put an end to this line of talk, but it only seemed to cue up further questions from the Water Tribe warrior.

"Then why were you chasing me in Ba Sing Se, and why did you join Azula?"

Zuko leaned forward and put his forehead in the palm of his hand, "I thought if I captured the Avatar I might still have a chance of returning home…" He then looked thoughtful for a moment and looked into Sokka's still puffy eyes, "Well… I hoped… It doesn't matter. That's the same reason I joined Azula. I… I was being stupid."

The attentive arctic hunter gazed right back into ashamed prince's eyes and placed a hand on his shoulder, as his own rich blue eyes twinkled in the moonlight, "You wanted to go home. That's not stupid. Sometimes we miss being home to. The war is destroying everyone's homes."

Zuko felt a little uncomfortable with Sokka's friendly touch. He wasn't used to being touched like that. His uncle would do it from time to time, but no one else ever had. Such a gesture wasn't common place in the Fire Nation. It wasn't common to touch anyone all that much unless they were greeting or in combat. Sure, he'd thought nothing of the countless times he'd touched or been touched by the Water Tribe boy in the past, but this was different. This was a friendly gesture, and the touch left Zuko feeling clueless as to what to do next so he just looked down at the ground.

Now Sokka felt sort of awkward. He felt Zuko stiffen under his hand and noticed as he broke their eye contact. He wondered if he'd just insulted the banished prince as he gingerly removed his hand.

The uncomfortable firebender grit his teeth, "If it wasn't for my father everyone could just go home, and they'd all have homes to return to. I… I'm really sorry I burned down your girlfriend's village. I know there's no way I can ever make it up to her, but if I live through the war I want to go and help her people rebuild it."

Sokka's mouth dropped open a bit. He hadn't meant to shame Zuko at all, but he was starting to think he couldn't really say the right thing in this situation. Perhaps the strategy of shifting the focus to the young Fire Nation prince had not been a good one.

The Water Tribe warrior reached out a timid hand to the skittish prince's chin which he used to delicately lift his head so that he could once again meet Zuko's amber gaze, "You should tell Suki that. She's surprisingly forgiving… I should know."

Zuko grit his teeth and pressed his eyes shut as Sokka moved his hand to the fire rogue's shoulder once again and squeezed a little. The uneasy prince meant to be the one comforting the Water Tribe boy, but the whole situation seemed to shift entirely in his direction. Was the wolf-tailed boy trying to keep the conversation off of himself? Zuko was almost sure that was the case now. Maybe a lighter shift towards Sokka would make things easier.

"…Speaking of Ba Sing Se, why were you wearing a green girl's dancer uniform… and why did you hug me?"

The usually sarcastic warrior was left speechless and his eyes went wide and his face went red as though Zuko had just punched him in the stomach. Luckily for Sokka, he wouldn't get the chance to explain his humiliating story any time soon as an unexpected interruption showed up.

Aang couldn't sleep no matter how hard he tried. He had just gone and been a huge jerk to Katara. He was pretty sure she hated him and would never ever date him now considering how he'd acted. The young Avatar just hoped she'd stop being angry enough to still be his friend.

The upset airbender just wanted someone he could be close to like Sokka was with Suki. He knew they had been sleeping and cuddling with each other and saw how Suki took care of Sokka when he was down. Aang wanted that type of closeness desperately.

It hurt the young Avatar very deeply that almost everyone he'd ever known, been close too, or even met before Katara and Sokka were now probably dead; and now with his upcoming battle with the fire lord Aang worried he would die alone. He knew everyone around him were his close friends and they all cared a lot about him, but he still felt the path he could see in front of him was one he would have to walk alone. That was why the airbender pressured Katara because he felt if he wasn't closer to her now he might never get the chance to be again.

Aang took a deep breath and finally gave up on sleep as he hopped out of bed and tiptoed towards the door to take a walk. That was when he spotted Sokka and Zuko. They looked really serious, and he began to wonder what they were talking about as he watched them.

Zuko looked toward the window, as Sokka was busy freaking out trying to figure out how he'd explain that a bunch of dancers had put him in drag to escape Ju-Dee; his hand still squeezed the dark clad man's shoulder, but much tighter now.

"…We're being watched," Zuko mumbled as if they'd been doing something very private and had just been caught.

Sokka wasn't sure he saw what the big deal was about being watched, but he was grateful for the distraction. He gently nudged the firebender's side, "Why don't we invite him to join us. He looks kind of bugged."

The cloaked prince met Sokka's gaze again and then looked back toward the Avatar. He raised a hand and motioned at Aang to come outside where he and Sokka were.

Aang took a deep breath and walked outside. He wasn't sure what this was going to accomplish. Talking about his problems with his friends usually helped the young Avatar a lot, but it wasn't like he could just go out there and talk to Sokka about kissing his sister. The very idea made the airbender squeamish.

Zuko and Sokka exchanged an oddly intimate glance as the team's usually most optimistic member walked out. The Water Tribe teen took one more squeeze on the guilt ridden prince's shoulder before he let his hand drop as he turned to Aang. Both boys were assuming the airbender was upset about the horrific display at the end of the play.

Sokka offered a warm smile, "Hey buddy, what's up?"

The Avatar looked sheepish, "Hey Sokka… actually I was wondering if I could talk to Zuko for a few minutes."

Both of the teens looked shocked at Aang's request. The fallen prince knew he was a gloomy guy and wouldn't compare to Sokka in the cheering up department. He wondered what could be up.

The boomerang wielding teen shrugged a little, "How about I go prepare some of those snacks we were talking about?" He gave Zuko a wink and took off to the kitchen, where he knew he could at least watch them talk from the window.

The Avatar's former stalker took a deep breath and looked into his innocent indigo eyes as they shone brightly, "I know you can do this. Defeating the Fire Lord is your destiny," he stated with no tinge of doubt. The socially awkward prince then took a page out of Sokka's book and put gentle hand on the young Avatar's shoulder which somehow seemed astonishingly less awkward than the gesture between him and the Water Tribe warrior. Social situations were so much easier with Aang; probably because the bald monk was so friendly and social most of the time. He didn't seem to have any reservations about making new friends and being as warm as he could to the friends he already had. Zuko guessed that was the charisma inherited through the ages by the Avatar, like a special power.

Aang shook his head, "No, it's not that, I mean… It sort of is and thanks, but I sort of have another problem."

Zuko blinked and looked up at the kitchen where he saw the food obsessed teen peering out at them for a second before he quickly returned to cooking. The perplexed prince couldn't fathom what other more pressing problem the Avatar might have given the current situation.

"What is it then?"

The youthful monk sighed and looked sheepish again as he fidgeted and poked his fingers together in front of him.

The hermit like prince had no real idea what the young Avatar could be feeling. He had never seen him like this before. The picture Zuko had of Aang in his mind was one of confidence and optimism.

"Don't worry. I'm sure we can work it out, whatever it is," the emo prince's brow raised in shock at his own optimistic words, but then he looked into the other boy's eyes, waiting for answers.

"Well… you see… there's this girl…"

"Katara," Zuko broke in.

Aang was baffled, "You know about Katara? I mean, about me… I mean about…"

The prince shrugged and didn't really see where the Avatar was going with this, "Doesn't everyone?"

The young airbender looked befuddled, "Everyone?! ...Even Sokka?"

Zuko shrugged again. He had no idea who knew what.

"Why don't you ask him?"

Aang shook his head, fear plain on his face.

"I can't. I… I sort of kissed her. How would you feel if I kissed your sister?"

The shocked Fire Nation warrior raised his eyebrows, "I'd feel sorry for you."

"Hey, that's not funny. I'm serious," Aang whined in distress.

"So am I. I'd pity anyone who dated Azula."

"I guess I see your point, but that doesn't help me any. I messed up really bad. She said she wasn't ready for a relationship right now, and I just… I just kissed her again. I think she's really mad," The bald monk explained as a blush moved up his cheeks to engulf his whole head.

The thought occurred to Zuko that Aang was a lot like him when it came to this sort of stuff only possibly a bit worse. His uncle had at least tried to talk to him about girls, and puberty and the like, but the airbender had no relatives to teach him any of that of stuff. All of Zuko's instincts told him that the friendlier Water Tribe teen would be a much better choice for such talks, but he could see the point of how talking to Sokka about dating his sister would be too difficult for Aang right now. So, the prince did the best he could at offering the airbender some advice.

"Did you apologize?"

Aang shook his head, "She wouldn't even talk to me after that."

"Well, maybe you can apologize after she cools down some… maybe with a flower or something. I think normal girls like stuff like that," Zuko guessed as he scratched his head in thought.

"What do you mean, normal girls?"

The prince sighed, "Well, I only really dated Mai. She didn't like anything. She thought everything was stupid, and if I tried to kiss her she'd hit me upside the head. She only thought kissing was a good idea if she instigated it… Ehh… I guess that's too much information." A blush crawled across Zuko's cheeks.

"No, actually I think that helps," Aang smiled. "Thanks, Zuko. You're pretty good at this stuff."

"I am?" the firebender asked in befuddlement.

Aang nodded enthusiastically and patted the prince's arm, which didn't seem at all awkward. Zuko's eyes narrowed as he pondered why things felt so much more awkward and nerve-wracking when he was with Sokka. Maybe the Avatar was just naturally soothing to others was all he could come up with.

"You should talk to Sokka."

"What?!" Aang was startled.

"He's your friend, and I'm sure he'd think if his sister had to date someone that at least with you she'd be with the Avatar. I'm sure Sokka trusts you. He's trusted you with his life in the past, right?"

The young airbender took a moment to think about the prince's words. Zuko really was wise about this sort of stuff. He knew if Sokka just found out on his own things might be worse. This was Aang's chance to prove to Sokka that he really could trust him. Maybe this really was the right time to tell Katara's brother before things progressed any further, and at least then maybe the airbender could explain why Katara was being so cold to him.

The Avatar looked up to his friend with a smile and offered him a quick hug.

"Thanks Zuko, you really did help. I think you're right. I should talk to Sokka."

The unusually content prince gave a soft smile. It felt good when Aang acted like he'd done the right thing. He then looked up to the spying eyes of the Water Tribe chef and waved him outside.

Sokka hadn't been able to gather what was going on outside at all just from watching. He just used watching the two talking as a distraction from his earlier troubles as he rapidly grew more eager to rejoin the group. So, when the Fire prince motioned the food bearing teen out, he bounded outside eagerly with huge trays of food in each hand. He was just about to say something when Zuko turned and started to walk away.

"I'm going for a short walk. You two should talk."

The sarcastic snack holder couldn't help but feel a little twinge of disappointment as the dark figure disappeared into the distance. He was really looking forward to seeing how Zuko liked his meat skewers. Now he was left standing there staring at Aang with two massive trays of food. He quickly sat them down on a blanket he had draped around his shoulders before he turned to the goofy Avatar. The Avatar looked anything but goofy to Sokka for once. He sheepishly poked his fingers together and looked up at the curious dark skinned teen with large nervous eyes as his whole head seemed to be covered in blush.

The Water Tribe boy had never seen his friend like this before. He hadn't even been able to picture the crazy airbender acting meek or embarrassed really until now. His mind quickly raced back to the time that Aang had told Katara and him that he'd lied to them about the letter from their father. The Avatar had the same frightened, shameful look back then. Whatever this was, it was a serious matter.

Aang just stared at Sokka, eerily silent for once. The silence stretched on as it never had between the two of them before until Sokka finally grabbed the airbender's shoulders and bent down to look him in the eyes.

"What is it?!"

The poorly experienced Avatar didn't know what to say so he just spit it out as fast as he could, "I kissed Katara."

"What?!"

"…I kissed Kata…" the airbender spoke slower this time but was interrupted.

"I heard you. I mean, what? What? Wha… Why? What?" Sokka was expecting this to be serious, but he wasn't expecting it to have anything to do with Katara. All of his guesses had been war or Fire Nation related.

Aang suddenly wished he had gone with Zuko. He looked down at his feet.

"I wouldn't have kissed her if I didn't… I… I lo…"

"Whoa Whoa Whoa!!!" the freaked out brother waved his hands in front of Aang as his voice cracked.

"I don't need to hear about this sort of thing. Let's just go back to before you said that and um… talk about something else."

"But Sokka…"

"Don't "But Sokka" me, Aang! Would you want to know about it if I kissed your sister?"

"…I don't have a sister, Sokka."

"That's not the point. If you did, you wouldn't. Just ask… Zuko… You think Zuko would want to know if you kissed his sister?"

The befuddled airbender's eyebrows rose in frustration, "Zuko said he'd feel sorry for anyone who kissed his sister."

"Well… I don't blame him… but… Hey, you told Zuko you kissed my sister?!" the frazzled warrior's voice continued to crack.

"Shhh… Sokka, you're going to wake everyone up. I have a real problem, okay?"

"What's that Aang, are you planning to elope with my sister now?! …Oh… you better not be planning to…"

"It's not like that. Sokka, Katara's really mad at me."

"Well good… Well… What? Why?"

A great part of the monk wished he could just melt away into the sand now as he continued to look down, shame plain on his face. Tears filled his eyes and began to drip off his chin. Katara was really important to him, he had to face the fire lord and maybe die, only to let the whole world down if he did, and now, Sokka was yelling at him.

"I'm sorry! I'll never kiss her again! I think she hates me now anyway!"

Sokka smacked himself in the forehead as he began to realize the error in his words. He took a deep breath to calm his voice and pulled Aang close to him as he squeezed his shoulders in an almost-hug.

"Aang, what happened?" the previously freaked out boy whispered softly.

Aang slowly forced himself to look up into Sokka's softening blue eyes. He wanted to Sokka to trust him, like Zuko said.

"I never would do anything to hurt you or Katara. You guys and Toph and Zuko are like my only family."

The Water Tribe warrior nodded and met Aang's gaze, "I know."

"You guys are everything to me, that's why I feel so bad for what I did."

"What did you do?" the uppity boy's words were soft and calm now.

"Well… I guess… It started when I kissed Katara on the day of the siege…"

"You kissed… I mean… go on…" Sokka took a deep breath. This was going to be harder than he thought, but he reminded himself he was talking to Aang, not Jet or, god forbid, a certain mustached earthbender.

Aang squeezed his jaw and eyes shut tight a moment before he continued, "Nothing else happened after that… until tonight."

Sokka started to breathe a sigh of relief just as the sister-kisser got to the "until tonight" part.

"What happened tonight?"

"I asked Katara why we aren't together because I thought we'd be together but we aren't. She told me she couldn't even think about that sort of stuff with the war and everything."

Sokka did sigh in relief this time before he asked, "Then, what did you say?"

Aang looked down and shook his head, "I kissed her."

Shock showed clear on the Water Tribe warrior's face as his voice began to crack again, "T-Then what?"

"She ran off. I think she hates me."

Sokka grit his teeth, but shook his head again, "I don't think she hates you, Aang. Maybe you should just give her some time to cool down… And don't kiss her again."

"I know that…" Aang suddenly hugged Sokka tight. "Thanks Sokka. I know this was hard for you."

"Y-Yeah… next time something happens to do with Katara and kissing don't tell me about it… unless it has to do with some guy kissing Katara and then you should tell me so I can go beat him up."

"Hey Sokka, I'm a guy!"

"Don't remind me… Besides, it's different with you. I know you'd never purposefully hurt Katara."

Aang smiled a little, "Thanks, Sokka. Does that mean I have your blessing?"

Sokka glared slightly and noogied the little airbender, "Hey, don't push it."

The monk giggled and yawned, "I guess it's time for bed. Goodnight Sokka. You should take Zuko all of that food you made him." He gave his friend a hug and headed into the house, feeling better. Tomorrow he would get up early and go get some flowers for Katara.

Sokka felt a little weird now as he looked down at all of the food on the blanket. The display really was an excessive amount of food for two or even three people, and most of the non desert dishes were meat based. For some reason this thought made the sarcastic teen feel sort of embarrassed like Zuko might make fun of him for making him so much food… and what did Aang mean "take Zuko all that food you made for him"?! It sounded like Aang thought that the Water Tribe chef had made all of this food just for Zuko and not for himself or the airbender at all. Sokka didn't know why that thought annoyed and embarrassed him, but it did. He didn't know what to do now. Surely the intense prince had seen both of the huge platters before he walked off so it wasn't like the wolf-tailed boy could just go get rid of one of them. He finally just picked up the platters and blanket and went to look for Zuko as he followed the teen's sandy footprints.

Zuko was lying on his back looking up at the moon when he came into Sokka's view. The heart sunken teen followed the firebender's gaze with his own as his thoughts once again turned to his loss. He wondered if Yue was looking back at him. The mournful warrior was brought out of his trance when Zuko suddenly turned to look right at him.

"That food smells good."

Sokka gasp a moment and struggled for words, "…Well yeah, if you're lucky I might share it with you. I even used those weird Fire Nation dishes with all the candles under them to keep everything hot. …I guess I'll give you guys that one… That is a pretty clever idea."

The pale prince did his best to offer a warm smile as he got up and helped Sokka with the blanket and the food. He dusted himself off and sat down, inhaling the scent of all of the dishes. It all looked amazing, but after his bout of starvation in the Earth Kingdom Zuko found that most food looked amazing. The prince was completely useless at food preparation so he couldn't believe the Water Tribe peasant had brought out such a huge spread for just a late night snack. There were meat skewers and various fancy meat dishes of multiple varieties along with four different types of desert which included fondue. Zuko concluded the warrior turned chef must have been trying to distract himself with cooking. He wasn't about to complain as he reached out and grabbed a skewer.

Sokka was very content when he saw how happy Zuko was. He watched as the cultured prince ate. The unrefined Water Tribe native had never seen anyone eat so delicately and politely with their hands before. He supposed that fact only made sense as Zuko was a prince of the Fire Nation after all. The thoughtful teen imagined Zuko probably had years of etiquette training just on table manners.

The Water Tribe peasant's table manners left little to be desired, but Zuko really didn't care. He ate the way he was used to from years of training to not do otherwise. The meal was silent, but he supposed that was just fine since both of them were busy chewing; but as the silence stretched the awkward loner began to wonder what he should say.

The food was great, and Sokka was appeased. He kept looking up to watch Zuko eating who didn't seem to be paying all that much attention to him so much as his own food. The intrigued teen watched as Zuko delicately ate a chocolate covered strawberry, and suddenly his mind flashed back to the thought of how warm Zuko's lips had been when they brushed his underwater in Ba Sing Se. Sokka was so shocked by that thought that he suddenly fell backwards into the sand, which now, thanks to the tide, was slightly covered in water. Sokka squeaked and jumped to his feet as Zuko made a soft little amused snort.

"Are you ok?" Zuko was grateful to Sokka's clumsiness for taking the awkwardness out of the situation until he realized Sokka hadn't answered him. He was just standing up in the sand staring down at him with a gaping look. Zuko raised his eyebrow, "What? Is there something on me?"

Sokka hadn't thought of that moment in the spa since it actually happened, but now the thought was outright distracting. Where was this coming from?! He had no idea. He just wanted the thought to go away now, but instead, the memories of Zuko's warm hands from Boiling Rock started to flood his mind. He began to realize just how much closer in an odd way the two of them had been since their trip to the prison. That's when Sokka realized something: Why was Zuko staring at him? Oh right, he hadn't said anything in a really long time, and the firebender had just asked him… something.

"What?

"That's what I just said."

"Oh."

"Is… something wrong?"

"Nope! …What could be wrong?!" he answered a little too loud as he turned his head away but kept his eyes on the confused prince.

"Uh… well…" Zuko decided he should just come out with it as he glanced over and up at the moon once again.

As Sokka followed Zuko's gaze he forgot about the humiliating memories as he felt his heart ache and sink in his chest and tears brimmed his eyes. He quickly stepped in front of the prince and blocked his view of the moon.

"You didn't tell me Aang kissed my sister!"

"What?" the prince looked shocked. Hadn't the two of them been just about to talk about Sokka's moon girlfriend? He took a moment to clear his thoughts.

"I just found out and told him to tell you."

"Oh," Sokka answered, as he still tried to show a rough exterior.

"I don't see why you're so surprised. It was bound to happen anyway."

"What?!"

"Well… everyone knows that Avatar is in love with…"

"Everyone?!"

Zuko sighed and sweat-dropped, "That's what he said. I guess everyone didn't know…"

"Well… I guess not everyone can be a genius stalker who knows everything."

Zuko began to feel a bit exasperated, "I'm not stalking you guys anymore and I don't know everything. I just thought it was obvious."

Sokka rolled his eyes, "I guess it doesn't matter. …So…"

"So…"

"So…"

"Stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"Oh never mind," Zuko was growing frustrated as he often did. He tossed a bit of sand into the water as he realized the Water Tribe native's hair was still all wet. So he piled up the empty trays, picked up the blanket, and wrapped it around Sokka.

Sokka's eyes went wide, "What are you doing?"

"You're all wet."

"It's just my hair. Who died and made you Katara?"

Zuko just looked bewildered, "It's cool out here."

The arctic native rolled his eyes again, "Phht! You call this cold?"

The firebender decided to take a verbal leap. He was tired of talking about the weather, and his instincts told him the other boy needed to talk to someone about what was really bothering him.

"…Tell me about your girlfriend."

"Suki? You know Suki, she's very…"

"No, I mean…" the prince shook his head calmly, "… the other one."

"What other one? I only have one…"

"How did she become the moon?" Zuko almost whispered.

Sokka paused and looked into his friend's eyes as tears filled his own wibbley ones.

"I… She… Zhao… Why do you want…"

"Zhao…" Zuko grit his teeth.

Zuko hated Zhao. The man spent the better part of Zuko's teenage years stalking the angsty prince and making creepy advances toward him. Although Zuko hadn't really understood what he'd meant at the time he heard Zhao state more than once that the Avatar and the Fire Nation prince would be his. The horrible man even tried 'things' with the young prince. He willed himself not to think of Zhao as he urged Sokka to continue.

"What happened, Sokka? You seem… distraught about… I mean, not that I wouldn't be distraught… err… Well, I don't really think I understand…"

The aforementioned distraught teen began to pace as he clutched his head in hands and tried to sort his thoughts while he willed himself to stay calm and not do anything embarrassing in front of his cool warrior friend.

As Sokka continued to pace Zuko became more aware that he probably shouldn't have said anything about this. He wasn't sure that he'd want the Water Tribe warrior to question him about something so personal. The self-conscious prince was just trying to help, but now he felt like he'd gone and stuck his foot in his mouth. His fist dug into the sand in frustration. Why did talking to other guys his own age have to be so hard?!

The pacing warrior suddenly fell to his knees in the sand just in front of the discomforted prince.

"Yue was saved by the Moon Spirit when she was a baby. It gave her its life energy, and when it died she had to become the Moon Spirit to return its gift," Sokka blurted out the words as fast as he could as he looked at the sand in front of Zuko's knees. Tear droplets dripped from his shadow obscured eyes onto the sand.

The Avatar's former would be captor felt like the world's biggest jerk once again. He wished he hadn't said anything at all and had no idea how to deal with the consequences of his words; so, the firebender reached out both hands and gently placed them on Sokka's shoulders as he used the slightest amount of bending to make his hands feel warm and soothing.

The troubled warrior tensed at first at Zuko's touch as he hadn't expected it. He thought Zuko would mock him or belittle him for being weak, but the cranky prince didn't seem to be doing either of those things. He was just sort of semi-holding the panic-stricken teen.

Sokka suddenly sagged into the bender's grip, and the confused prince found himself holding up most of the boy's weight. He determined that opening his mouth now could lead to further upsetting the other boy so he tried to form a war style strategy on what would be the correct next step. Ultimately, he had nothing, not a clue of what to do. The prince's thoughts raced over his memories of all the hugging the group seemed to do with each other, but he had never been a part of that, aside from the time Katara hugged him after their journey to find her mother's slayer and the multiple times that Aang hugged… well everyone he seemed to meet. Zuko knew little of such things. His uncle hugged him a few times and well…

The shamed warrior suddenly wiped his eyes on his sleeve and moved to look up at the prince to try and give an explanation. Zuko didn't fare well on timing because that was the moment he chose to attempt to hug Sokka. The results were the Water Tribe peasant accidentally smacked himself in the head from Zuko's sudden grab and then flailed about which resulted in the firebender getting smacked in the head.

"Ouch."

The panicked teen stopped flailing as he realized he had just smacked the fire prince right in the forehead. He looked up at the other boy's deadpan declaration of pain to see Zuko looking up and cross-eyed at a bruise forming on his forehead. The previously distressed boy started to snicker, just a little.

Zuko glared, "Hey."

The Water Tribe warrior blinked as Zuko's gaze met his. Had the antisocial prince been trying to hug him?

The two guys just sat there and stared at each other in awkward silence for what seemed like an eternity, but in reality it was only a few silent minutes.

"So…" Sokka finally broke the silence.

"Don't start that again," the cranky prince responded.

"You're… uh… You're really good at cheering people up by getting hit in the head," the cheered boy made a goofy face and grinned as he did feel better.

Zuko's look darkened. This what he got for trying to help? The Water Tribe peasant was making fun of him. The sardonic prince rolled his eyes.

"Maybe I should hit you in the head next time."

"Oh! Oh! Maybe next time Aang is upset about something we should just bop him in the head!" Sokka made a 'bop' motion with his fist to punctuate his words.

"Oh yes, I'm sure that will work," Zuko rolled his eyes again to demonstrate how lame he thought that idea was.

"Well I don't see you coming up with any ideas. Besides, I was joking."

"Mmm… funny."

"Wow Zuko, Don't you ever laugh? What do you do if you actually want to have fun?"

"Nothing," the prince frowned.

"So what, you never have fun? What makes you happy?"

"Nothing."

"So, you never have fun and you're never happy?"

"Yep."

"Wow, that really stinks. Don't you ever get tired of being miserable? Maybe that gloomy girl really was perfect for you."

Zuko let his head fall back on the sand so he could look up at the stars. The scarred prince remembered a time in his childhood when he'd lay in the same sands on the same beach and stargaze. The time was much less troubled in a way but he still couldn't remember a time after his infancy that he was all that happy or even content… except one night. One night Zuko's mother brought him out to stargaze and taught him some of the star's names. Zuko recalled asking why the stars had names. She explained to him that was because they had souls like people and the rivers and cities. The prince's logical thoughts told him now that the stars had names so that they could be used for navigation purposes, but a small part of him still reached to hold onto belief in his mother's words.

Sokka watched the prince stare up at the sky in silence. He was pretty sure the angsty prince was thinking about something gloomy from the look on his face. Fine, if Zuko didn't want to have fun he would just have to make him. A wicked thought came to mind and he suddenly rolled atop the surprised pale prince. The hunter went in for the kill as he tickled maniacally at Zuko's side and tried hard to make the despondent warrior smile or giggle.

The musing prince stiffened in shock as his companion suddenly pounced on him and began to tickle wildly at his sides. Once he had determined what the other boy was doing he just lay there and looked up at him with raised eyebrows and sad eyes.

"What are you doing?"

The tickling schemer frowned. This wasn't working at all, and the other teen's reaction was almost eerie. The prince didn't even seem agitable for once. He just looked sad and confused now. The tickler decided to try one more place, just to make sure. So, he scooted down off of Zuko as a blush spread across his cheeks and grabbed for a foot to tickle.

The prince scuffled away as best he could, but the darker skinned warrior held tight. Zuko bit his lip hard but snickers started to find their way out and soon he was outright laughing as he struggled to crawl away from his attacker. He didn't even like to have the palace groomers give him a pedicure, but this was ridiculous. His feet were so sensitive. What did the other guy think he was doing? This obviously called for some sort of offensive maneuver. The struggling prince flipped up in the sand and tackled his assailant to deliver his own tickling.

Pretty soon both guys rolled around in the sand and tickled each other in what seemed to be a battle of epic testosterone proving proportions. In the end the prince was of course the victor for his ridiculous amount of tenacity alone, but he didn't really push the issue or force the other boy to admit defeat. He just rolled off the chuckling Water Tribe peasant and lay on his back in the sand to stare at the stars again. He was surprised that such idiocy did seem to make him feel a little better as he looked over at the Water Tribe teen wiping giggle tears from his eyes.

"Gee, you really are relentless, you know that?"

"I'm here with you and the Avatar aren't I?"

It was now Sokka's turn to roll his eyes, "Phh… I should know not to start a tickle fight with stubborn crazy stalker prince."

The named prince raised an eyebrow, "Is… Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

The Water Tribe teen began to giggle once again, "What do you think?"

Zuko sighed, "I think you're just insulting me because I'm better at tickling than you are," he answered in a deadpan.

"Oh! Oh, is that so?!"

"Yep," the prince answered with little interest.

"W-Well, if I wasn't so tired I'd show you…"

"Mmm… yes, I am very scared," the prince's answer dripped with sarcasm.

"Well, you should be!"

The tired prince stretched his hands over his head and yawned. This normally would have bolstered another loud response from the uppity Water Tribe teen, but he was tired to so he mimicked the yawn and slowly let his eyes drift shut a little.

Zuko noticed the silence begin to stretch between the two of them once again and was about to say something about the waves being watery when he heard a soft snore from the boy beside him. A soft warm smile graced the prince's lips as he turned his head to look at his peacefully sleeping friend. His own eyes drooped, and pretty soon, he too was fast asleep.

This wasn't the first time the usually isolated prince had slept near the Water Tribe teen. He now understood the customs of the Water Tribe and their tendency to cuddle for warmth. So, the prince wasn't all that surprised when he awoke with the other boy draped half across him. He let himself doze just a little longer than usual. Something about the other boy atop him felt comfortable and warm. He hadn't been this close to the other boy since their horrific trip to Boiling Rock. The half-asleep prince was, however, quite shocked when little pebbles began to rain down upon the two of them from the sky.

Sokka awoke with a shock and covered his head, "Ouch! Toph, Aaang, not again! Do your training someplace else!" At least the Water Tribe warrior wasn't the only one suffering this time.

"Wake up, girlies! The time for morning snuggles is over! No more nappies for you two!" the fierce young earthbender made sure to yell as loud as she could as she pummeled the two guys with rocks and they scrambled to their feet. Sokka took solace in the idea that for once this wasn't only happening to him. He wasn't alone.

TBC…

(Next chapter promises to be almost entirely different…)

plude


	5. Chapter 5 Relieving Tension

Hey, welcome back. This chapter takes place after "The Deserter" when the group stopped to bed down for the night.

Main Pairing: Sokka and Zuko, slight mention of past Jet/Sokka, light Sokka + Suki, very light Sokkaxmultiple characters throughout the first season, very light Aang + Katara, Zhao + Zuko

**Warnings: yaoi/slash main pairing, adult sexual themes and contexts I don't want to give away specific spoilers. (If you are not of legal age or don't like yaoi/slash than please don't read.), sexual harassment, puberty related talk O.o'**

Disclaimer: "Avatar the Last Airbender" is a property of Nickelodeon studios, and I claim no ownership or rights towards the story or its characters.

All questions, comments, and critiques are welcomed and appreciated.

Oh, by the way, all the 8's you keep seeing are the page dividers because keeps editing out my symbol page dividers. 

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The Trouble In Being Zuko or Sokka

Chapter 5 "Relieving Tension"

(Season 1) Location: …Somewhere in the Earth Kingdom woods…

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_Zuko smirked smugly and looked deep into Sokka's glaring eyes. The boomerang guy glared back and struggled against the bonds holding him tied tight to the tree. The prince was an excellent knot tier as the tribal warrior suspected he would be. These ropes would be very difficult to escape._

"_Sokka, tell me where the Avatar is or else."_

_The proud Water Tribe warrior shook his head and eyed his boomerang over by a nearby tree._

"_I'd sooner die than give Aang over to you, Prince Zuko. Do your worst."_

_The pale Fire Nation prince's smirk grew. "I was hoping you'd say that, Sokka."_

_Sokka kept his glare firmly in place, determined to show no fear to the strong prince, but he hadn't been expecting what happened next._

_Zuko abruptly leaned forward and pressed a deep hot kiss to the bound boy's soft lips. The wolf-tailed teen kissed back ferociously, but then bit Zuko's lip as he returned to his senses._

_The prince smirked and licked the little trickle of blood from his own lip before he reached down to delicately smack the brave warrior on his bottom. Sokka gasped, and the prince smiled wildly as he slowly moved his hand around to Sokka's front and slid it down the excited boy's pants._

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Sokka delicately tiptoed to the lake as quickly as he could. He hadn't been traveling with his sister and the Avatar for more than a couple of months, but every single thing just seemed to lead him into more trouble and more humiliation. These late night sneaks to whatever lake or river was around were a more common occurrence than he'd like to admit. This had been happening to him, well… since before they'd even left on this crazy trip, but at least at home Sokka had his own private igloo that he'd demanded for such issues. He convinced Katara and his Gran-Gran that he needed his own guy place because he was a guy and guys need their own private spaces. The transition was a hard one for Sokka at first as he jumped at every noise and almost ran back to his family igloo multiple times, but he forced himself to be brave, and the payoff was the fact that he had a whole lot less worries about being caught cleaning up his blankets and bedding when something humiliating like tonight happened. He was sure that his sister would just assume that he had wet his bed like he did when he was little, but that prospect didn't sound that much less humiliating than the idea of her realizing what type of bed wetting he'd actually done.

The stressed boy kept trying to mentally distract himself from his eerily erotic dream as he cleaned himself off in the cold lake water. Since the incident with Jet the teenaged warrior forced himself not to think about, Sokka started to have these dreams about practically everyone they met. Well, everyone was a bit of a stretch, but he had even had a dream about him and Haru, and once he'd had a dream about that guy who foamed at the mouth every time he saw "The Avatar". The dreams were completely disturbing, humiliating, and unnerving to say the least.

Sokka shivered as he washed and willed himself not to get the flu again. He wondered if his illness before had actually been linked to one of these late night cleanup incidents in what had been one of the coldest rivers they had camped near. As a form of distraction, the freezing teen thought back to what his dad told him, before he left for war, about these types of "accidents" being a common thing for teenaged boys and not to worry about them if they came up. The adolescent hadn't really understood what his father meant at the time, but he felt very grateful for their talk as he aged a bit and this eventually did become a problem.

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Iroh watched as his nephew clinched his fists at his sides and paced the room like a caged lion-tiger, "Zuko, you need to try and relax. You should spend some guy time by yourself to relieve… tension."

"I don't need to relieve tension, Uncle. I need to find the Avatar."

The wise old firebender let out a breath, "Maybe what you could use is a date. You do know that most boys your age…"

"I don't have time for crazy girls, uncle! I need to focus on regaining my honor," Zuko couldn't believe his uncle would even suggest such a waste of time. They were so busy looking for the Avatar that Zuko hadn't even noticed any girls. The uneasy prince did notice when his uncle wasted time hitting on the agitating bounty hunter girl, but he simply didn't understand what purpose such a poor use of his time would serve.

"Zuko, sometimes a man must take time to rest and explore…" his uncle began.

"I can rest after I capture the Avatar," Zuko continued to pace, now even more upset.

Iroh just sighed once more. Perhaps Zuko was just a late bloomer. He had been worried that a birds and hornet-bees talk was long overdue, but the prince's behavior told him otherwise. A small part of him wondered if his nephew even liked girls.

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Sokka finished with his bathing and quickly got out of the cold water as he trembled. He tugged on his wet tunic for the time being and picked up his sheets and blankets to go wash them next. The chilled teen hoped they would dry by morning and he could just use Appa for warmth until then, since Aang and Katara sent his extra sleeping supplies down the river with their stupid bending practice.

That's when 'that' feeling hit the hormonal Water Tribe teen and he let out a frustrated sigh. There was no point in washing anything else if he didn't take care of this problem first or the whole thing would just happen all over again. He quickly looked to the left and right, not that he suspected anyone was around since he had already been doing something quite private, but the paranoid guy wanted to just make sure.

Once he was good and certain the coast was clear the half nude teen made his way over to a nearby bush that looked promising and tossed his bedding inside. He peeled his tunic back off after he checked around again and climbed into the bundle in the bush. The freezing tribal teen had no qualms about doing this in the safe hidden warmth of his blankets since he was going to have to wash them anyway.

This wasn't that bad, Sokka thought to himself. Truth be told, the warrior had this happen in much worse places with much poorer timing. One of the most memorable times for the awkward teen happened after he was in the spirit world for an entire day with Aang's bear spirit buddy. The confused guy couldn't remember what happened to himself while he was in the spirit world, but when he looked down after arriving out of the crazed place he found a big… problem in his pants. The skilled strategist was lucky he was good at thinking on his feet as he covered his pant's tent pole with his hands, claimed he needed to use the bathroom, and ran off.

Once the chilled warrior was good and secure in his new temporary hiding place the time for musing was over. He bit his lip and looked down at his swollen erection as he rubbed his hands together to warm them with friction. As soon as he was content he wouldn't freeze one of his favorite, though most frustrating, body parts off, the wolf-tailed boy slowly wrapped his fingers around his throbbing penis. A soft moaned squeak escaped the aroused guy's lips and his eyes rolled back into his head as he gradually began to rub. A very uncontrollable and perverse spot in the Water Tribe warrior's brain wondered what the subject of his latest dream was doing right now. His best guesses were sleeping or tracking Aang down at this very moment, but his twisted thoughts kept making up other stories involving the prince mimicking his own little interlude.

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Sokka's best guesses were far closer to the truth about Zuko than he could realize. The angsty obsessive prince was, in fact, stalking towards his bed chamber as he ran over the newest coordinates the Avatar was spotted in. He figured that maybe his uncle was right. Maybe this would be a good time to catch up on a little sleep before they once again caught up to the Avatar. Of course, Zuko hadn't realized what his uncle had actually been trying to get at. The tense warrior mistook the word 'rest' for simply meaning sleep, and he just frustratedly disrobed and threw his clothes all about the place; he knew the servants would clean them up for him when they got him dressed in the morning. Once he was just in his pants Zuko climbed into the bed. Had he been in the palace, servants would be in to bring and dress him in clean silk sleeping robes, but Zuko found going through so much to be troublesome when they would just have to redress him in the morning anyway. As a result the prince refused to tell the servants when he was ready for bed, and they knew not to disturb him if his door was closed unless they had found the Avatar.

Zuko just lay in his bed and stared at the fine silk Fire Nation banner as he told himself again and again that he would find the Avatar, capture him, and restore his own honor as well as his right to the throne. Really, all the prince cared about, all the prince could see in his mind was the ashamed turned back of his own father who had even refused to see him off to make sure he had survived. He wasn't even sure if his father would recognize him now. Zuko wondered how his uncle could expect him to chase after girls when he couldn't even gain the caring or approval of his own father. The anguished warrior forced his eyes shut tight and willed himself to sleep. He hated being in bed and trying to rest. When he was alone in his room all the banished prince could think about were all his failures. He would often stalk about the ship for multiple days and train without sleep so that by the time he went to his room he fell right to sleep from exhaustion.

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The Water Tribe teen tried hard not to think of the strong warrior prince and his dream as he rubbed himself, but every time he pushed Zuko's face out of his thoughts Jet's face would replace it. Sokka was pretty sure he must be sick in the head as he finally just gave in to thinking about Jet above thinking of Zuko and began to mimic the techniques the insane forest dweller used on him. He had gotten used to touching himself from both sides very gradually from time to time now as he usually used cum as an added lubrication, and although he often willed himself not to, he would sporadically give in to temptation.

The hidden guy's thoughts went wild as he pictured the insane dark skinned rogue's touches, and the things he'd done to gain reactions from the young warrior's body. Sokka's voice came out in frantic squeaks, moans, and pants as his movements quickened in pace and his teeth bit at his lip. Finally, the teen saw a moment of white as pleasure wracked its way through his body and cum shot out to splatter him and the blankets. The spent teen just lay back in the bush and panted as his heart thumped in his chest. He lazily brought a hand up to wipe at his sweat beaded brow and licked the sweat beads from his upper lip as he tried to regain his will to get up and finish cleaning. The idle warrior mused about how surprisingly comfortable the bush was and how cold the world outside of his bedding was as he finally reluctantly forced himself to crawl out before he started thinking about just what he'd been thinking about and how screwed up it was.

The repressed guy was beginning to figure that maybe Katara was right about him needing to just kiss a girl, or maybe he needed a girlfriend. A girlfriend would give him someone… appropriate to focus his alone time mental attentions on. A girlfriend would be cute and sweet and… Suki… he wished he had more time with that Kyoshi girl. He wondered if she actually liked him as he reminded himself that he had told himself he would think of her the next time he did this which just hadn't happened once again. As a result of that thought the foiled schemer smacked himself in the forehead with his wrist like he often did when he was bothered. Fortunately on normal days he didn't usually have semen all over the hand he used to smack himself with.

Sokka made a semi loud "Argh!" as he realized his foolish mistake and made his way back to the water with his blankets in tow to wash up once again. The half frozen teen left his blankets on the bank and jumped into the freezing water as he wished he would have taken care of all of this before his last icy bath.

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Zuko couldn't sleep. He felt stiff and sore all over as he turned his head away from his nation's banner to glare at his dueling swords. A little voice in the prince's head told him there would be a major price to pay for his past activity as The Blue Spirit, but he shook it off. The worrisome prince told himself that no one had seen him aside from the Avatar; and who would he tell? There was no chance or reason for the Avatar to tell anyone in the fire nation what he'd done, and even if he did, who in the fire nation would trust the words of the Avatar?

The restless prince was suddenly disturbed as a member of his ship pounded on the door.

"This had better be about the Avatar!" Zuko spat out.

"S-Sir, Admiral Zhao is here to see you."

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Katara awoke from a frightful dream about Aang and Sokka being kidnapped by the Fire Nation to find her brother (along with his bedding) disturbingly missing. At first glance the motherly Water Tribe girl was terrified. She almost woke up Aang, but after she thought about the situation she realized that no fire nation troops would kidnap only her brother and leave the Avatar. Plus, why would they bother to kidnap her brother's bedding as well? No, something else was going on, and she became determined to get to the bottom of it.

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As the Water Tribe teen became clean he reached out of the water to grab his disgusting bedding. He frowned at the mess. This was going to take quite a while to get out, the chilled boy imagined, especially with the Earth Kingdom soaps. He missed the blubber soaps he and his Gran-Gran would make back home. They were much more effective for such things, but Aang used the last of Sokka's soap to give Appa a bath.

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The furious prince jumped up out of bed swiftly and grabbed his robe which he tied shut as he made his way to the door. What could Zhao want at this hour? He probably just stopped by at the most inconvenient time to further show what a big jerk he was. As the prince flung open the door, he didn't get the chance to go down the hall to greet his rival, because there the arrogant recently promoted admiral was.

Zuko half recoil flinched as Zhao brought up a hand to shove him into the room.

"Good evening prince. I hope I didn't wake you. Your men say that you wander the ship at all hours so I was certain this would be a fine time to stop by," Zhao's voice was beyond smug as he looked the shocked prince up and down and let his hand linger on Zuko's chest a moment too long.

Zuko's eyes narrowed to golden slits and he shoved his face into the admiral's to answer his intimidation tactics with intimidation of his own.

"What the hell do you want?!"

This reaction only fueled the admiral's smug smile as he reached back to shut the door behind them. He then made his way to the dueling swords crossed on the prince's wall so that he could pointedly gaze upon them.

The proud prince refused to let himself be intimidated for even a moment.

"I said tell me what you…"

Zhao whipped around without warning and wrapped an arm around the prince's midsection to tug him close and gawk conceitedly into his eyes as it was now his turn to invade the other man's territory.

"I want your loyalty."

The well trained but somewhat socially clueless prince grasped to figure out why Zhao was now holding him so close. He could only guess the admiral was still trying to be menacing. Zuko wasn't about to be outdone by his rival so he forced himself even closer to Zhao as he brought a hand up to fist at the man's tunic in front of his chest and slightly lift him. He was now so close he was almost touching noses with Zhao.

"Get off of my ship!" the prince daringly spat out at his most loathsome enemy.

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As Katara approached the water she could hear her brother's familiar voice muttering something to himself about "crappy Earth Kingdom soaps" and the sounds of something being scrubbed. As she moved closer she could see him leaning over the water in a soaking wet tunic so he could scrub at what appeared to be his blankets. As the waterbender rustled around, her brother's head shot up and his big blue eyes seemed to grow three sizes.

"K-Katara, what are you?!"

"Sokka, don't you 'Katara' me! You shouldn't be out here in the middle of the night in the cold water in wet clothes! I know you probably think wetting the bed at your age is embarrassing, but that's no excuse to be out here soaking wet in the middle of the night when we just recently got over being sick!" the waterbender punctuated her words with a shake of her finger. When the motherly girl finished talking she quickly bended all of the frigid water out of the warrior's tunic he was wearing along with his hanging clothes.

"Katara, this isn't what it looks like," Sokka protested.

The worried girl sighed, "Sokka, it doesn't matter what it is. I'm worried about you making yourself sick."

The protective sister shook her head as she continued to worry about her brother. She didn't know he'd still been wetting the bed. It wasn't something that her big brother had even started to do until they found her mother after the fire nation attack. She never ever made fun of Sokka for it, not even once, because she knew the cause, but she hadn't known it was still a problem. To Katara's knowledge Sokka's last time wetting the bed was a few weeks after their dad left for war. She wondered why he was doing it now. Was her brother that worried when he found her tied to a tree? Her eyes began to water as she thought of her poor brother always glossing over everything that upset him with sarcastic complaints and bad jokes.

"Katara, stop looking at me like that! I-It's really not what you think!" Sokka briefly wondered if it was more humiliating to let his sister go on thinking he'd wet the bed at his age or if explaining about being a teenage boy would be worse, but he hated the look he was seeing in her eyes.

Katara looked down and shook her head, "It doesn't matter, Sokka. Don't worry, I won't say anything to Aan…"

"Katara, I didn't pee the bed!"

"Sokka, stop yelling. You're going to wake up Aang, and you know how hard he is to get back to sleep."

"Katara, stop rationalizing and listen to me. I didn't pee in my bed."

"Then what are you doing out here soaking wet in the middle of the night washing your blankets? Sokka, it's ok. It's not a big deal."

"It is a big deal, Katara."

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Zhao sneered wickedly and leaned in without warning as he brought a hand up to gently cup at the prince's balls, which he seemed to have a lot of.

Zuko recoiled and delivered a fiery punch to Zhao's gut as the admiral's lips barely brushed his. How dare the general touch him in such a way?! The sheltered prince hadn't even suspected for a moment that such a thing could be Zhao's intent.

"How dare you attempt to defile royalty! Wait until my father hears about this!"

Zhao retreated back a bit as he gasped for air and struggled to keep composure. The prince's blow had been hard and very hot. He could feel slight burns forming under his armor.

"Ha! Your father won't even see you, banished prince, and I will see too it that he never talks to you again when I capture the Avatar. Then the both of you shall be mine! The Avatar will bring me prestige, and you will bring me something much more amusing," Zhao's smug smirk was already back in place as he spoke.

The furious prince wasn't completely sure what Zhao was talking about, and he wasn't sure he entirely wanted to know. The essential thing was that he caught the part about Zhao capturing the Avatar. Zhao couldn't capture the Avatar. The Avatar was Zuko's to capture, not some aspiring general or admiral's! How dare Zhao try and capture the Avatar!

The admiral took a step closer to the prince as he got his wind back.

"You are in no position to go making any sort of threats considering what a traitor you are to the fire nation."

"I am no traitor," Zuko spat out.

"Oh?" Zhao mock questioned. "Because from where I'm standing the Blue Spirit is a huge traitor who kidnapped the Avatar from the Fire Nation."

Zuko's eyes visibly widened as his pupils dilated in complete realization. There was no chance now that Zhao didn't know it was him.

"Wh-What does that have to do with me?" the prince demanded as he tried hard to keep what little ounce of composure he had left.

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"I haven't wet the bed since I was nine, Katara."

"But Sokka, what about that time when you were thirteen?"

The shaken warrior sharply inhaled a breath, "Katara, remember when dad and Gran-Gran talked to us about growing up and what that meant about us… changing?"

"Ewww Sokka!" Katara wrinkled her nose at her brother's suddenly distasteful change of subject.

"No, Katara, I'm serious. Eh… I remember dad and Gran-Gran took us to separate places and talked to us. He told me a little bit about what he told you so I'm guessing she might have told you about what he talked to me about." Sokka's head now resembled a tomato-plum it was so red. He really didn't want to talk about something like this with his sister of all people. It was hard enough trying to work through these things on his own.

"Sokka, where are you going with this?"

"…I didn't pee my bed, Katara. I didn't pee my bed when I was thirteen either… I… I had a …dream." The young warrior let out a sigh and tugged his bedding out of the lake to hang over a tree. This was a good excuse not to look his sister in the face as he spoke.

The waterbender's eyelids slid wide open as realization seemed to finally dawn on her, and a blush tinted her cheeks. She began to realize how completely humiliating this must be for her brother, and she suddenly felt even worse than she had when she thought that she'd caught him peeing his bed. The motherly girl knew if Sokka caught her washing out one of her 'womanly problems' she would just die; not that Katara had any of those sorts of problems yet, but she lived in fear of the day such a thing would become an issue, and she suspected it could be any day now.

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"Don't be coy with me prince. I know all about your secret activities as The Blue Spirit," Zhao decided to play his trump card.

"How dare you accuse me! Get off of my ship right now!" The prince's face was crimson with anger and humiliation at Zhao's earlier boldness. He had never been treated in such a way by anyone during the course of his short life, and he was still questioning exactly what type of threat the admiral attempted to deliver with such brazen crude actions. It wasn't like anyone in the Fire Nation to touch each other in any way shape or form that he'd seen unless it was his uncle trying to calm him or someone trying to post a threat.

Zhao all but laughed, "Cocky little prince, do you really think you're going to get away with your treasonous actions?!" He took another step closer to Zuko and grabbed for his shoulder.

Zuko shifted backwards away from Zhao's attempted grasp and almost fell back on the bed. He took a deep breath and reminded himself to keep a strong stance like his uncle had taught him. He would not let himself be taken down by the self indulgent admiral. There had to be a way out of this mess.

Zhao smirked and shoved at the prince's chest in attempt to shove him on to the bed, but the tenacious warrior would not budge. He shoved the admiral right back and a lot harder.

"Perhaps you are so old you can no longer hear well. I said to get the hell off of my ship right now!"

The admiral's smile only brightened at the feisty prince's insults. He reached up without warning and wrapped his fingers around the prince's ponytail. The amused older man tugged hard as he kicked at the prince's now disrupted stance while the angry teen struggled to get his hair free.

Zuko tumbled back on the bed as Zhao held tight to his ponytail and landed heavily atop him. He had no idea what the hell the admiral was thinking with this move, but he was more than indignant at the violation of his long hair that was a symbol of his royal heritage. Just as he was about to shout further protests and strike back at his attacker his uncle opened the door and pulled Zhao off of him.

All Iroh knew was he had been trying to sleep peacefully when he heard the shouting in the next room. He had no idea Zhao was on board until he opened the door. The old ex-general had suspected that the admiral had eyes for his nephew, but he never mentioned it and hoped the issue would never arise. That is why he was so horrified and shocked to open the door to his nephew pinned to the bed with Zhao atop him in a very compromising position. The prince's uncle tugged him off immediately.

"What are you doing, Zhao?"

Zhao struggled in Iroh's grasp and made his way to the door.

"Watch your back, traitorous prince."

Zuko just looked up at his uncle with raised eyebrows from his position laying back shirtless with his legs apart on the bed.

"I think he's trying to start another fight with me. I'll beat him again if I have to."

Iroh sighed, worried by the naivety of his nephew, "Prince Zuko, I'm not sure it's a fight that Zhao wants…"

Zuko shrugged, "Whatever he wants, he's not going to get it… especially not the Avatar."

The exhausted general just gave another sigh and headed back to bed. Perhaps he could try to talk to his nephew about this in the morning, although he wouldn't get the chance as Zhao would be back to claim their men which would ruin any decent time to bring the incident or any further chat on a related subject up.

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Katara bended the water from her brother's bedding as she looked away in shame.

"…We'll get you some extra bedding at our next stop so you don't get a cold again. Just take better care of yourself." With that she turned and made her way back to the camp as she tried hard not to think about their conversation and felt guilty for putting her brother through such humiliation. She would not go looking for him in the middle of the night if his bedroll was missing again, and she hoped he would do the same for her if the time ever came.

Sokka let out a deep sigh of relief as his sister seemed to understand and just let the whole thing go. He doubted he'd ever feel turned on again after talking with his sister about such a thing and for that he couldn't help but feel a little grateful.

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TBC…

By the way, I have some fanart of some of the pairings in this fic on my deviant art account: .com if anyone wants to take a look. I will probably post more some time soon.

plude


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